


As Rain Falls

by InsaneJK



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Innuendo, PTSD, Reader Instert, Reader-Insert, Romance, Sexual Content, Some mature content, Thriller, Weirdmageddon, reader - Freeform, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-06-16 04:47:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15429339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneJK/pseuds/InsaneJK
Summary: y/n is a seventeen year old girl running away from both her inner demons and the ones around her.  After escaping the laboratory she was stationed in for testing, she ran from those trying to hunt her down for over half a year before finding herself in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls, Oregon.  She meets the Pines family, something she would have been much better off not doing.  Now she's stuck in a horrifying web that she can never escape from.I'm posting this on Ao3, Wattpad, and Quotev.  My account name on Quotev and Wattpad is ImSaneJK.





	1. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Alex Hirsch is the creator of all the Gravity falls characters.  This is all original dialogue written by me, and y/n is my own character as well.

       Running.  That’s all I ever did; running from tests, running from monsters, running from myself.  I was growing tired of it, the adrenaline of being chased burning out. I sighed, glancing out rain-coated window, my head resting against the cold pane of glass.  My eyes burned with exhaustion, but I knew I wasn’t safe enough to fall asleep. 

       I felt the bus jerk to a halt, my eyes jumping to the bus driver as he spoke, “Miss, I’m afraid this is the last stop, you’re going to have to get off.” 

       I nodded, pushing to my feet, “Do you know what’s around here?” I asked as I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

       “I don’t know much about this place.  Sorry, kid.” he shrugged.

       “It’s alright, thank you.” I nodded, walking down the aisle before exiting the bus.  I stepped onto the wet concrete, the rain pounding against my bare arms and legs. I began to run down the pavement, water splashing up around me with every step I took.  When I finally reached an open building, I quickly pushed the doors open, entering the small cafe. I glanced around, the restaurant seemingly empty with only a few people sitting at the bar  and a family in one of the booths. My eyes landed on an older woman with makeup coding her face, one eye staring directly at me while the other was closed. 

       She smiled, “Hello!  Welcome to Greasy’s Diner.” she called, her voice a bit croaky and drawn out.  I smiled back, walking over to the bar where she stood.

       “Excuse me, ma’am, could you tell me how to get to the nearest motel or at least somewhere I could stay?” I asked, a fake, kind smile forming across my lips.  After having to hide from those people for so many years, I had gained the ability to reel people in with soft smiles and kind words. 

       “Of course, sweetie.” she said, the nickname catching me by surprise, though I didn’t show it, “When you leave here, cross the street and go to the right and it’s the fboulding on the corner across the street.  You’ll see it, it’s called ‘Gravity Falls Inn’.” 

       “Thank you, miss.” I smiled, turning to leave only for her to continue.

       “Are you a tourist?” she asked.  I hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Well, I’m Susan if you ever wanna stop by and get some grub.”

       “I will, thank you.” I lied, having no intention of coming back to the small diner.  I turned once again to exit the building, and once I was in the pouring rain once more, I began to follow her instructions, stepping into the street to cross.  The rain was so loud I wasn’t able to hear the car slam on it’s breaks fast enough to react, pain blossoming in my hip as I was thrown to the ground, the world around me going dark as I heard the car doors open.  

 

       I forced my eyes open, the bright light blinding me and forcing me to squint.  My heart began to race, my breath quickening as images of the tests I had to go through and the words of the lab assistants running through my head.

_        ‘Her heart rate is rising, sir.’ _

       My eyes began to adjust to the bright light, the words getting quieter.

_        ‘Keep running the test.’ _

_        ‘Her blood pressure is too high, she’ll die.  I’m shutting it down.’ _

_        ‘Do that and you’re fired.’ _

       I felt the bed move beneath me, my head shooting to the source of movement to see a brown-haired girl pushing off the bed to her feet, her eyes full of worry and excitement.

       Her words were rushed, her eyes darting all over me as though she were looking for something, “Are you okay?  My grunkle accidentally hit you with his car, I was so worried! I’m Mabel, by the way. My other grunkle, Ford, says you didn’t break anything, but your hip is out of alignment or whatever he said.  He was able to put it back into place for you, but it will probably still hurt.” 

       “Thanks…” I pushed myself up into a sitting position, pain shooting from my hip down my leg.  I winced, my eyes floating around the room as I tried to distract myself from the pain. I was in someone’s bedroom, the bed I lay in having pink comforter, the slanted ceiling following the design of the roof having multiple boy band posters along with some pictures of Mabel and her friends.  I peered over the girl’s shoulder to see another bed with a blue comforter, a framed picture of a ship hanging over it. The bed was surrounded by papers and chewed up pens, my eyes furrowing to see what they said. My vision failed me, the font being to small to read from such a distance, so I decided to look at the girl standing before me.

       She had long brown hair, her soft brown eyes still scanning my arms an legs for any more wounds.  She seemed about my age; sixteen at least. She was wearing a baggy sweater and a pair of jeans, bracelets adorning her wrists and a necklace with a rose gold heart wrapped around her neck.  

       Before I could finish analyzing the girl, the door to the bedroom opened, my head shooting in the direction of the intruder to see a boy with choppy, curly brown hair and the same soft brown eyes as the girl beside me.  He wore an oversized orange T-shirt with a blue camping vest over it, the boy wearing a pair of cargo shorts. He looked to be the same age as the girl, the two seemingly identical. I assumed the pair were twins, or at the very least siblings.  

       “Hey, Dipper.” Mabel greeted, turning to me, “This is my brother, Dipper.” I lazily raised a hand, a quiet ‘hello’ escaping my lips.

       “Hey, how are you doing?” the boy, who I now knew was named Dipper, questioned.

       “Alright,” I shrugged, “My hip hurts like hell, though.”

       Dipper’s expression didn’t change as he approached the bed, “What’s your name?  Is there anyone we can call to pick you up?”

       The blood rushed from my face, my skin going pale, “No, no one.” I shook my head, pausing for a moment, “The name’s y/n.”

       “Nice to meet you, y/n,” Dipper hesitated, “And, uh, sorry about hitting you with a car and all that.” 

       “I won’t take it personally.” I joked, wincing as pain shot through my hip again, “Quick question, why didn’t you just take me to the hospital?”

       Mabel and Dipper glanced at one another, both hesitating before Mabel turned to me again, “You’re probably going to have to ask grunkle Stan about that.”

       I nodded, looking out the triangle-shaped window before speaking again, “Also, where am I?”

       Dipper decided to answer, “The Mystery Shack.”

       “Yes, but  _ where _ ?  What town?  What state?” I quizzed the boy, my eyes locked with his.

       His brows furrowed, “What do you-- you mean you don’t know where you are  _ at all _ ?”

       “Nope,” I answered bluntly, my eyes wandering the room once more, “Not a clue.  I just rode the bus until it stopped.” 

       Dipper’s jaw dropped, Mabel’s brows jumping as she spoke, “Gravity Falls, Oregon.  Are you a run away or something?” my brows rose as Dipper’s jaw dropped.

       “Mabel!” Dipper scolded for the girl’s direct question.  I waved him off.

       “It’s fine, she’s just curious.” I shrugged, “And yes, I guess you could say I am.” 

       “Are you sure you don’t want us to call anyone?” Dipper questioned, I shook my head.

       “No, I’m fine.” I swung my legs off the side of the bed, my expression contorting due to the pain shooting up my hip as I pushed myself to my feet.  I wobbled a bit, Mabel holding out her arms in case I fell and she needed to catch me, Dipper wincing at my pained expression, “I should probably go.  I just need my bag and I’ll be out of your guy’s hair--”

       “Wait,” Mabel said, “I think you should stay for a while!  Our grunkles won’t mind, and I can show you around Gravity Falls.  Dip and I can help you find someplace to live, too.”

       I hesitated, wondering to myself if I should take their offer or not.  I knew I shouldn’t, I didn’t even know them, they could be working for  _ them _ for all I knew.  But deep down, I wanted to stay; I wanted have friends for once, to have someone who wasn’t trying to poke me with needles or hunt me down.  I wanted that so bad, to not be lonely anymore. 

       I was tired of running.

       I sighed, shaking my head, what was I thinking?  I can’t trust them. I can’t trust anybody. Not anymore.

       “No thanks,” I finally said, Mabel not missing a beat to speak.

       “At least have dinner with us.  Our grunkles really want to apologize for hitting you.” Mabel begged.  The mention of dinner reminded me of my empty stomach, my belly growling with hunger.  It couldn’t hurt to just have dinner with them, could it?

       “I suppose.” I nodded, Mabel grinning ear to ear at my response.

       Oh, how wrong I was.


	2. 107

       “So, how’s your hip feeling, y/n?” the man sitting across from me, whom I had learned was named Stanford, questioned.

       “It hurts, but I’ll live.” I smiled before turning back to my food, which I had already almost finished, “How long was I out?”

       Dipper thought for a moment, “About a day.  We hit you on our way for dinner, so yeah, about a day.” he confirmed.

       I nodded, turning to the two ‘grunkles’, as the twins called them, “I meant to ask this before, but why didn’t you take me to the hospital when you hit me?”

       Stanley hesitated, Stanford being the first to answer in a blunt, disappointed tone, “Stanley was afraid you’d try to sue him.” he said bluntly.

       I let out a huff of laughter, “As if I have enough money and patience for a lawyer.”

       Stanley let out a chuckle at this, “I like this kid.”

       The four Pines questioned me all through dinner about things like where I was from, what brought me to Gravity Falls, etc., which was something I didn’t mind.  In fact, it made me feel welcomed and less alone. I was even disappointed when the dinner came to an end.

       “Are you sure you don’t want to stay, y/n?” Mabel asked, her eyes full of worry as she glanced between me and the door, “It’s pretty late, and it’s dark out.”

       “We can drive you to the motel,” Stanford suggested, “It’s the least we can do.”

       “I’m alright, thank you though.” I placed my hand on the doorknob, “Thank you for the meal, it was delicious.”

       “Come over if you ever need anything,” Mabel grinned, Dipper giving her a weary look.  It was clear he didn’t fully trust me, but who was I to be upset when I didn’t trust him, either?  I pushed open the front door to their cabin, adjusting the backpack on my shoulder. I waved goodbye for what I hoped was the last time before closing the door behind me, turning to look at the vast forest before me.  It then dawned on me that I didn’t know how to get back to town. While I thought of turning around and asking for help, I decided against it, sparing me the humiliation of asking for help. I stepped off the deck, walking across the dirt parking lot towards the forest.  My body pushed me to go into the forest, meanwhile my mind told me otherwise. I knew it was a bad idea to go into the forest at night, but it was like I had no control of my body; my legs moving on their own, step by step bringing me deeper and deeper into the forest.

       My hip pulsed with pain, but I trudged on, curious to find the force compelling me to move forward.  After almost half an hour of doing nothing but walking, I heard something coming from behind me, my head turning only to see nothing.  I frowned, but faced forward and walked a few more steps before I reached a small clearing, and before me sat a statue of a man in a tall top hat and a formal suit, an eye patch covering the man’s left eye.  It’s hand was outstretched before him, as though he was reaching to shake someone’s hand. I stepped towards the statue, my eyes skimming over its cracked figure. The grass around it went nearly to it’s waist, vines curling around its legs and arms.  I touched it’s hand gently, afraid the statue would crumble in my hands if I wasn’t careful enough. The statue was surprisingly warm to the touch, my hand enclosing around its own.

       The stone hand suddenly snapped closed around mine, it’s grip so tight I couldn’t pull away.  I let out a gasp, watching in horror as the hand turned from stone to flesh, then the coat to true fabric, then the legs, then the other arm, and at last, its face.

       “It’s a deal.” the creature smirked.  It looked like a normal human, but I knew it wasn’t.  I pulled my arm as hard as I could, yanking my hand from it’s grasp before scrambling away.  Was I finally going mad? Was this my punishment?

       “Don’t you worry, kiddo, I won’t hurt you.” he said, taking a step towards me.  I took a step back, eyeing him in fear. I heard something to my right, my eyes darting over to the source of the sound to see Dipper staring wide-eyed at the creature before me.  

       I turned back to the ‘man’ before me, my breaths fast paced as I began to hyperventilate.  As my vision became blurry, I quickly shook my head.

       No.

       Not here, not when this is happening.

       I began to slow my breathing, eyeing the creature before speaking, my tone rushed as I breathed heavily, “W-what are you?”

       It ignored me, looking over at Dipper, “Ah, Pinetree, nice of you to join us.”

       “Bill.” the boy said through clenched teeth, his his hands forming tight fists, though his expression showed true terror, “What was the deal you just made.”

       “Oh, you’ll find out.” Bill smirked, reaching out a hand.  Out of thin air, a pair of gloves appeared on his hands, a black cane popping into existence in his right hand.  The man began to float a few feet in the air, my eyes widening even more but this time in shock rather than fear.  He floated towards me, placing a finger under my chin as he spoke.

       “I hope to see you again soon, 107.” he snapped his fingers, disappearing into thin air.  I slowly looked over at Dipper, who locked eyes with mine. We sat in dumbfounded silence for a moment, neither of us moving.  How did he know my experiment number?

       Finally, Dipper spoke, his words numb, “Come on, we have to go tell grunkle Ford.”

       I nodded, and with that, the two of us making our way back to the shack in silence.  

 

       “You _what_?” Stanford exclaimed, the two of us wincing as Stanley and Mabel watched in horror.

       “She accidentally released Bill.” Dipper repeated, glancing at me with pure loathing.  I looked away, focusing on Stanford.

       “I-I didn’t know, I swear.” I promised, “I just-”

       “A demon into our realm that took years for us to banish!” Stanford began to pace, “You have no idea what you’ve just done.  Bill is more powerful than any of us are ready for.”

       “A demon?” I questioned, my brows furrowing, “What the hell do you mean a demon?”

       “I mean a Dream Demon,” Stanford said, stopping his pacing and looking the girl in the eyes, “One that has brought the apocalypse once before, and will do it again if he has the chance.”

       “What, like a biblical apocalypse?” I questioned.

       “No, Weirdmageddon.” Dipper said glumly.

       I glanced between him and Stanford, “Then… Then what do we do?”

       “We prepare to defend ourselves, then we’ll plan an attack against bill.” Stanford said, “Dipper, Mabel, tell y/n everything we know about Bill Cipher.  y/n, you’ll be staying here. I’m afraid you can’t leave now that Bill is after you; it’s just not safe.”

       I opened my mouth to argue, only to shut it again.  If we really were on the brink of an apocalypse because of me, the least I could do was help stop it, no matter how much I distrusted these people.  I nodded, keeping my mouth shut as Stanford spoke again.

       “Y/n, you’ll be sleeping in the twin’s room, we have an extra mattress in one of the closets that Dipper can get for you.” Stanford frowned in my direction.  I knew I was now the center of the Pines family’s wrath, and I accepted the fact in order to help out as much as I could.

       I nodded, the Mabel speaking up, “I have some pajamas you can wear if you want.” she smiled softly.  I smiled back, relieved to know that at least Mabel wasn’t as angry with me as the rest were.

       “Thanks, Mabel.” I smiled weakly as everyone began to part ways, Mabel waiting for me meanwhile Dipper began the trek up the stairs without us.  I sighed, following him up the stairs, Mabel in tow. Once we got in their room, Dipper opened the closet door, Mabel turning to me.

       She began to speak in a whisper, her words falling short of Dipper’s ears, “Don’t mind Dipper, he seems upset now, but as long as you prove you’re a good person, he’ll forgive you.” she gave me a smile, which I weakly returned as Dipper pulled the extra mattress from the closet, the boy tossing it to the floor.  He reached in again to pull out some bedding, placing it down on the bed along with a couple pillows.

       I instantly got the message that I would be making my own bed, Dipper sending me a short glare as Mabel sent me an apologetic look.  I sighed, kneeling beside the bed and unfolding the fitted sheet. I made my bed while the twins got ready to go to sleep, then we switched.

       I walked into the bathroom, my bag in my arms along with the pajamas Mabel kindly donated to me for the night, given I had nothing but jeans, tank tops, and flannels.  I let the door click shut behind me, my hand reaching over to switch on the bathroom light. The dull glow illuminated the room, the first thing catching my eye being my own reflection.  My eyes were a dull (e/c), my (h/l), (h/c) hair tangled and greasy from not having taken a shower for a few days, and my clothes disheveled from sleeping in them for so long. I had scrapes and bandages going up my right arm where I fell during the crash, and my shirt was torn along the top of the short sleeve.  

       I ran a hand through my hair, glancing at the shower before opening the door to the twins’ bedroom, sticking my head out and looking at Mabel, “Do you mind if I take a shower?”

       “Go ahead!” Mabel nodded, looking up from her magazine.  I smiled.

       “Thanks.” I closed the door behind me, locking it before stripping from my dirty clothing.  I stepped into the shower, turning it on only to be greeted by cold water. I let out a yell of surprise, hearing Mabel laugh from the other side of the wall.

       “Oh, I forgot to mention that the water heater isn’t working!” she yelled through the wall.  I rolled my eyes, stepping back into the freezing cold water, my body slowly getting used to the temperature.  After taking a long shower, I stepped out onto the cold tile, changing into Mabel’s pajamas before brushing my teeth and hair.  I stuffed my dirty clothes into my bag, exiting the bathroom and setting my bag beside my bed, Mabel reaching over to shut off her lamp as I crawled into the soft covers.  

       “Goodnight, Dipper.  ‘Night, y/n.” Mabel said, Dipper not replying as I answered.

       “Goodnight, guys.” I said as Mabel shut off her lamp, Dipper doing the same on his side of the room.  I shut my eyes, my consciousness falling into the deep abyss of my mind.

       I tossed and turned, my head full of haunting memories as I slept.  Memories of the tests, all the cruel procedures done to make me some sort of lab rat, and most importantly of _them_.  The monsters who did this to me, who forced such a curse upon me.  I then felt myself being pulled from my thoughts into another nightmare.  

       My eyes slowly opened, only to be greeted by inky blackness.  Though I couldn't see, I knew I was strapped down to some sort of platform.  I reached out before me, my movements sluggish as my hand collided with a surface cool to the touch.  Glass. I sucked in a breath, only for my lungs to burn, my mouth and throat flooding with liquid. I screamed, but no sound came as I began to pound my fist against the glass.  I felt the surface crack beneath my hand, my chest beginning to burn as I slammed my fist against the glass again. The glass shattered, piercing my hands with the razor sharp shards.  I didn't care as I attempted to throw myself out of the hole, only to find I was still tied down.

       Was this my fate?  To die in a pool of God knows what?  To live my whole life as a lab experiment?

       I felt the ground quake under my feet, the restraints around my ankles releasing.  I pushed myself off from the platform, my head emerging from the pool as I grabbed onto the ledge.  I threw myself onto the floor, coughing up the liquid in my lungs before taking a deep breath.

       “Sir, that was bulletproof glass.”

       “It’s fine.  It didn’t work.”

       “It worked until she woke up.”

       I looked up from the floor, my eyes glaring deep into the man’s eyes on the other side of the glass.

 

       I gasped, jolting up from my bed.  My vision was a haze as my eyes darted around the unfamiliar room.  

       Where was I?

       Did they find me?

       Is this another test?

       I began to hyperventilate, my already blurry vision becoming more impaired by the tears welling up in my eyes.  Slowly, the events of last night flooded back to the front of my mind.

       “Y/n?” a voice asked from beside me.  I lifted my head, my vision becoming clear as my eyes landed on the girl before me.  

       ‘Mabel.

       It’s just Mabel.

       You’re in the twins’ room.

       You are safe.’ I told myself.

       “Y/n, are you alright?” Mabel asked worriedly, the girl kneeling beside me.  I slowly nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes.

       “Yeah… Yeah, just a bad dream.” I nodded, “What time is it?”

       “About nine o’clock.” Mabel shrugged.  My eyes wandered over her shoulder to see Dipper standing in the doorway, “We heard you scream and we came up as fast as we could.”

       “I’m fine, it happens all the time.” I took a deep breath, gathering control of myself.

       “Do you think it has to do with Bill?” Dipper asked, “Bill can control nightmares, he could have--”

       “No, it wasn’t a nightmare.” I shook my head, “It was a memory.”

       Dipper’s eyes widened, the boy’s expression changing from distant to pity, “I’m sorry…”

       “Don’t be.” I frowned.  I hated people feeling pity for me; it made me feel inferior, like I’m a child who lost a toy.  I didn’t deserve pity, anyway. I was a monster; a monster of man’s creation.

       Mabel sighed in relief, “We thought that maybe Bill…” she shook her head, “Breakfast is ready, if you want to come down and eat with us.”

       I nodded, pushing to my feet “Sure.”

       The three of us walked down stairs, entering the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.  We ate in silence as I refused to look at anyone, still embarrassed from what happened with Bill the night before.  

       Finally, Stanford spoke, breaking the icy cold silence that had formed between us, “Y/n, I understand that you had no idea about Bill, correct?” I nodded.  Stanford opened his mouth to speak again only for Mabel to butt in.

       “None of us blame you for what happened, Y/n, it was an accident.” she smiled.  I smiled back only for Stanford to speak once again.

       “What exactly did Bill say?” he asked.  I looked down at my half eaten food, losing my appetite.  

       “The first thing he said was ‘It’s a deal’.” I frowned, Mabel’s jaw dropping.

       “You made a deal with Bill Cipher?” she exclaimed, Dipper speaking up.

       “He was a statue, she touched it’s hand and it released Bill.” Dipper said, “It was one of Bill’s tricks.”

       “Do you know what the deal was?” Stanford questioned.  

       I shook my head, “No, he said ‘we’ll find out’.”

       “He had to made a deal to get out of the realm we banished him to,” Stanford thought aloud, “So we know at least some of his part of the deal.  We don’t know what you get in return, if anything at all, that is.”

       “So how do we find out?” I questioned, looking between the four before me.

       “We wait.” Stanford sighed.

       “Grunkle Ford, what about you and Stan’s flight?” Mabel asked.

       “I already cancelled it,” Stanley said, “Ford thinks this is way more important.”

       “We can try the zodiac again.” Dipper suggested, Stanford nodding.

       “Bill has to be within reach in order for it to work.  Right now, we have no idea where he is.” he said.

       “What if we lure him here?” I asked, this time Stanley spoke.

       “Don’t we still have that unicorn voodoo around the house to keep Bill out?” he asked Stanford, who nodded.

       “And we don’t have everyone we need to complete the wheel.” Stanford frowned, “Wendy and Robbie went off to college, remember?”

       Dipper nodded, sighing, “Then what do we do?”

       “Wait for him to make his first move.” the older man said, the atmosphere in the room dropping.

       “But that’s too dangerous!” Mabel argued, “What if he tricks one of us into making another deal?”

       “Please, Mabel, just trust me.” Stanford said softly, “Bill’s left us with no other choice.”

       “There has to be something we can do!” Dipper agreed with his sister.

       Stanford changed the subject, much to the twins’ dismay, “Why don’t you go show y/n around?  She’s never been to Gravity Falls, and it’d be best if she knew her way around before Bill makes his first move.”

       Dipper frowned, but nodded nevertheless.  The three of us pushed out of our chairs, exiting the kitchen and going up the stairs to get changed.  Once we were all ready to go, I grabbed my bag and we headed down stairs.

       Gravity Falls was nice now that the rain was gone; the town looking as though it were an old mining village made into something so much more.  Dipper walked ahead of us, meanwhile Mabel and I lagged behind, Mabel trying to get to know me and vice versa.

       Dipper told me about the landmarks of the town while Mabel focused more on her favorite shops.  We went into a few of them and tried on some clothes, but nothing really caught my eye.

       We were in one of Mabel’s favorite shops; a thrift shop going by the name of Gravity Falls’ Thrift, Dipper looking at a few hats meanwhile Mabel was trying on some clothes she liked.  I was looking through some old CDs when I heard a tapping on the window stationed behind the table of discs. I looked up, the CDs almost falling from my hands as I made eye contact with one single golden eye.  

       Bill winked before disappearing into thin air.  I blinked, taking a step back only for my back to collide with something.  I turned, only to meet eyes with Bill Cipher once again. I let out a gasp, the demon holding a finger to his mouth before speaking.

       “Shh, Pinetree may not be able to see me, but he can see and hear you.”  he said in a sing-song tone. I glared, then how the hell was I supposed to talk to him?

 _‘I can read your mind, 107.’_ his velvety voice played through my mind.  My glare deepened.

 _‘What the hell do you want?’_ I asked in my thoughts, the man before me letting out a chuckle.

       “That’s easy:” he said, an evil grin falling upon his lips, “I want you.  I know what you are, and I’m not stopping until you’re stuck in my web.”

       I turned, setting the CDs down, _‘I’ll never help you.’_

       “Please, call me Bill.” the demon smirked, “And I’m afraid you’ve already agreed to help.”

       I spun around, _‘What do you mean, ‘I agreed to help’?’_

       “I mean, It was a part of the deal.” the demon’s smirk deepened, “You let me out of the realm and help me get my revenge on the pines twins and I don’t tell anyone about your little secret.”

       I glared, _‘I never agreed to that, you tricked me.’_

       “And yet, you still shook on it, therefore it’s valid.” Bill stepped to stand beside me, “And I’m afraid there are no ‘take-backsies’.”

_‘You’re foul.’_

       “Wow, that’s one I haven’t heard in a while.”

_‘What the hell do you want?’_

       “Well, first, I need you to get close to the Pines family.” Bill thought for a moment, “Yeah, that’s all I want for now.  I just stopped in to let you know what I’m capable of. Goodbye for now, fair 107.” and with that, he once again disappeared into thin air.  I swallowed nervously, my eyes falling back onto Dipper. I considered telling the boy about the encounter, but immediately thought against it.  They couldn’t know, no one could.


	3. Deals and Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for the format of this chapter, the indentation wouldn't work for some reason. I hope you enjoy the chapter despite that fact :)

After the twins' tour of Gravity Falls, we opted to go grab lunch at grab lunch at Greasy’s Diner, where Susan was more than to see that I kept my promise to come back. She lead us to our booth, which was beside a large window, the bright afternoon sun flooding the small diner.

We took our seats, the twins beside one another and I across from them. I grabbed a napkin from the dispenser at the end of our table, unfolding it and placing it across my lap as Susan spoke.

“Now, what do you kids want to eat?” she asked in her drawn out tone.

“I’ll take an egg and sausage sandwich, please.” Dipper ordered without looking at the menu.

“Oh, the usual.” Susan hummed.

“I’ll have the waffles, please.” Mabel grinned, handing the small paper menu towards me. I nimbly took the paper between my fingers, glancing over the menu before deciding.

“Could I please have the quiche pie?” I gave the woman a small smile before handing the menu to her.

“Of course, dearies. As always, it’s on the house.” she smiled at the twins before wandering back over to the bar. 

“Why do you guys get free meals?” I questioned, my brows furrowing in confusion. Mabel and Dipper eyed one another for a moment before Mabel spoke.

“We saved the town from Bill once before, not a big deal.” she waved the question off, “Anyways, what’s up with the napkin? We’re in a diner, not a fancy restaurant.” she giggled.

I glanced down at the napkin in my lap before looking back up at the pair, “I was forced to take dining and etiquette classes when I was younger, along with a few languages.”

“Woah!” Mabel exclaimed, catching me by surprise, “That’s so cool! Were your parents rich or something?”

I glanced back down at my hands, “No-- well, maybe. I never met them.” Mabel’s expression changed to one of guilt.

“Oh, sorry for asking.” she dropped her hands from the table.

I shook my head, “Don’t worry about it.” I cleared my throat, looking back up at the two, “Now, tell me about Bill.” I was sitting at the edge of my seat, dying to know more about this demon, who probably knew more about me than I did myself.

“Tell us about you, first.” Dipper countered, my stomach dropping as Mabel elbowed him in the side, “What? I don’t know if I’m willing to tell her all our deepest secrets if we have no idea if we can trust her or not!”

“But Grunkle Ford--” Mabel sighed, “We’re going to have to either way.”

My mouth opened before I had the time to think, “No… It’s alright.” I spoke, my eyes jumping between the two, “I’ll tell you a little bit about me, Dipper’s got a good point.” I couldn’t let them know about the experiments, but I could tell them about some of the mundane things.

I sighed, “I was an orphan, and… I was fostered by a man who worked at a… hospital of sorts.” I tweaked the truth. I wasn’t lying, as I was truly an orphan, but I wasn’t fostered, I was adopted by that horrible man in charge of those experiments. “I spent most of my time at the hospital with my father,” I spit the word like venom in my mouth, Mable not picking up on it meanwhile Dipper’s eyes furrowed, “I spent most of my time in the library and--”

“What kind of hospital was it?” Dipper stepped in, my eyes focusing on the boy.

“I forget the name, but it was more of a mental hospital, as well as physical training for those who were impaired by war.” I improvised, “Anyways, I spent a lot of time with the patients and workers as well. I sometimes spend days at a time there because my father ran the hospital, so I was fairly close with everyone there.”

“Where was it?” Mabel asked, frowning in confusion.

“Georgia.” I made up on the spot. Dipper gave a suspicious look, but said nothing as I continued, “My father was a part of a very old fashioned family, that’s why I took a lot of etiquette classes.”

“Why did you travel all the way to Oregon from Georgia?” Dipper frowned, my lips pressing into a straight line.

“Don’t take offence to this, Dipper, but I don’t know either of you well enough to roll out my life story.” I spoke, my tone cold as I stared deeply into the boy’s eyes.

Dipper opened his mouth to speak, only for Mabel to butt in, “We understand, (y/n). I’m sure you had a good reason for coming here.”

“Thank you, Mabel.” I gave a small, grateful smile towards the girl, “Is that enough for you to tell me about Bill?” I knew I sounded desperate to get my hands on those answers, but that’s because I was. The more I knew about Bill, the easier I could overpower him and find some way out of this unfair deal.

The twins locked eyes once more, as though they were communicating by thought. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they could at this point. Dipper glanced back towards me, “We’ll tell you at the shack.”

I opened my mouth to retort, only for Mabel to speak, the girl changing the topic hastily, “I think I did a pretty good job shopping, what about you, (y/n)? What did you get?”

“Oh, I didn’t get anything.” I shrugged, “I don’t really have any money. I spent the last of it on the bus ride here.”

“How much clothing do you have?” she asked in disbelief.

“Three outfits, maybe?” I answered, a pit welling in my stomach uncomfortably. “I try to travel light.”

Mabel’s jaw dropped, “That’s it? No, I’m not accepting that. You and I are coming back out here tomorrow and we’re going to get you some new clothes!” she decided, the determination in her tone so strong that I knew not to argue. Dipper seemed to let out a sigh of relief when no retort came from my mouth.

I decided to change the subject, “Are there any kids our age around here?”

“Yep!” Mabel nodded, “There’s Candy, Grenda, Pacifica, Gideon-- but stay away from him, he’s a creep. Anyways, I can invite the girls to come along with us tomorrow!”

“That sounds great!” I gave her a smile, my eyes wandering to the bar only for my vision to be obscured by someone all too familiar.

“Hello, darling.” Bill spoke with a smirk, “How’s the bonding going?”

‘Not well since you keep showing up.’ I thought bitterly as Bill slid into the booth beside me. 

“I’m just here to check in and make sure you haven’t told Pinetree or Shooting Star my plan.” the man said, looking between the twins, who were currently chatting amongst themselves, “You do realize I’ll have no mercy on you if you tell them anything about me, don’t you?”

‘I already assumed so.’ I droned mentally, my eyes following Susan as she stopped at our table, placing our food before us.

“I hope you enjoy, kids.” she said, walking away from our table as the twins began to dig into their food. 

I reached out to grab my fork as Bill began to speak once more, “Good, because it would be a shame if the Pines somehow found out that you’re a lab rat created for--”

I cut him off, ‘How do you know about all that?’

He chuckled, forming his fingers into a triangle and holding it to his uncovered eye, “Is that really a question? I’m an all knowing being! I know all, from your earliest childhood memory to your deepest secrets. I even know where those men are who are hunting you down--”

“Where?” I said abruptly, Mabel and Dipper turning to look at me in confusion. I cleared my throat as Bill let out a fit of laughter, “Sorry, just thinking aloud.”

“It’s… alright.” Dipper’s eyes narrowed in both confusion and suspicion. 

Bill wiped a tear from his eye, “Oh boy, you’re gonna have to be more careful than that, kiddo!”

‘Shut up.’ I snapped, ‘Where are they? Are they close by?’

“I’m not telling you,” he smirked, placing a hand on the back of the booth as he leaned towards me, “That is, unless you do something for me.”

I flinched, picking at my food with my fork, ‘What? Another deal?’

“I suppose you could call it that.”

‘No.’ I thought sternly, shoveling a fork full of the pie in my mouth, ‘Leave me alone, I’ll never help you even if my life depends on it.’

The being smirked, pushing to his feet. He fixed his bow tie, “Alright, I’ll leave you be.” he sent me a wink before dissipating into thin air.

A sick feeling came over me, my stomach turning as I slowly set down my fork. Mabel glanced up at me with concern, “Are you alright, (y/n)? You look awfully pale.”

“I… I’m fine.” I gave a small smile, “I just lost my appetite.”

We chatted idly for the better half of an hour. While I managed to eat half of my quiche pie, Mabel and Dipper had cleaned their plates, Dipper pulling his wallet from his pocket and leaving a five dollar tip as well all slid out of the booth. We exited the diner, the three of us opening the car doors to Dipper’s car and getting in, the boy sitting in the driver’s seat while Mabel and I sat in the back.

“So, back to the shack?” the curly-haired boy asked, Mabel nodding.

“I think so, did you get a good idea of the town?” the girl asked me.

I nodded, “Yeah, thanks for showing me around.”

“No problem.” she smiled, Dipper pulling out of the parking space. As we drove, Mabel would switch between talking to Dipper and I and checking her phone. 

“Why do you keep going on your phone?” Dipper finally asked his sister, the girl shrugging.

“I’m texting everyone if they want to go shopping.” Mabel said, Dipper nodding.

“Mabel, I’m alright with the clothes I have, and I appreciate you thinking of me, but you really don’t have to--” Mabel cut me off.

“No way! We’re going to make you the most fashionable person of Gravity Falls!” she grinned. I let out a small sigh, knowing there was no changing her mind.

I nodded, “Alright, if that’s what you want to do…”

The rest of the ride was silent, Dipper concentrated on driving, Mabel on her phone, and I figuring out how the hell I was going to get out of Bill’s deal. There was one thing I knew for certain, I needed more information on Bill.

Dipper pulled into a parking space in front of the Mystery Shack, turning off the ignition before turning to look at me, “You can’t tell anyone in town we told you about Bill, alright? Town sort of has a pact to not tell anyone about Bill or Weirdmageddon.”

“I won’t.” I promised, giving the boy a reassuring smile, “Who do I have to even tell it to?”

When Dipper’s eyes didn’t leave mine, Mabel spoke, my brows furrowing in confusion as to why the boy was staring me down so intently, “Let’s go, I don’t think the Grunkles expected us to be out until lunch.”

Dipper seemed to shake himself out of whatever trance he was in, turning and opening the car door. I pushed open the door beside me, stepping out of the car and closing the door, Mabel doing the same. Once the three of us entered the cabin, we were immediately greeted with the sounds of yelling.

“So you’re going to believe some one-eyed freak?” Stanley snapped at his brother, who was looking frantically through a leather-bound journal.

“I don’t know, Stanley, I don’t know what to believe!” Stanford snapped.

“Wait, did Bill say something to you?” Dipper asked, the two older men turning to look at us. Stanford quickly answered ‘no’, meanwhile Stanley answered ‘yes’, the three of us staring them down. 

Stanford cleared his throat, his eyes landing on me as a lump formed in my throat, “(y/n), do you mind if we speak with Dipper and Mabel privately?”

I nodded, turning and leaving the shack. My stomach flipped and turned, my head beginning to throb. I leaned against the railing of the porch, my head reeling as I thought. I knew that Bill must have told them something about me, the way the two Grunkles looked at me was just too suspicious to not assume so. 

Almost as though the demon was just waiting for me to think that, he appeared before me with a soft gust of wind, the man floating above ground on the other side of the railing. I glared, my eyes burning with hatred for the all knowing being, who was currently spinning his cane around one of his fingers.

“Oh, don’t be that way, darling! It’s not like I just revealed a fraction of your deepest secrets to the only people you can trust in this town--” he abruptly stopped the cane from it’s rotation, “Oh, wait. I did!”

“What the hell did you tell them?” I snapped aloud, my nails digging into the worn wood, “And how can you be here? I thought Stanley said you couldn’t come near this house.”

“Well, apparently when I destroyed the shack during Weirdmageddon, the spell broke when they rebuilt it! But even if it were still there, I could easily manipulate your memories from the future when you’re away from the Mystery Shack.”

“You can do that?” I frowned, the floating man nodding.

“Yup!”

“Can you manipulate people’s memories to completely forget something?” I asked, the man leaning towards me, a malicious grin crossing his features.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” he grinned, a scowl forming on my lips, “I guess you’ll never find out, given the Pines don’t trust you anymore. They’ll never tell you anything about me unless you regain their trust, which I can tell you they are not the type to forgive and forget.”

I glared, a sigh escaping my lips as I spoke, “Bill, I want to make a deal.”

The demon’s eye lit up, the man floating up and over the railing to stand beside me, “You do?”

“Yes. If you tell me everything there is to know about you, your abilities, and anything else, then I’ll help you get revenge on the Pines family.” I looked over at the demon, who looked deep in thought before a smirk lead across his lips.

“Deal.” he held out a hand to shake my own. I lifted my hand from the wooden railing, wrapping it around his own and giving his a solid shake. A blue flame engulfed our intertwined hands, but no pain followed. Finally, the flame went out and I pulled my hand back to my side, the demon doing the same.

“So, tell me.” I demanded, the demon letting out a charming laugh.

“You never said I had to tell you now.” he smirked, “Now, as for revenge on the twins--”

“And I never said you could pick your method of revenge.” a cunning smirk flowed across my lips, the man’s expression dropping into one of pure rage. He leaned towards me, his eyes slowly fading from a brilliant gold to a deep red.

“Listen here--” before he could finish his thought, the front door opened, revealing Stanford, arguing emerging from behind him.

“(y/n), we… Have some questions for you.” He said, I nodded, turning to look back at the demon only to find he was gone. 

Stanford walked back inside, me in tow as the fighting came to a halt. Everyone’s eyes were on me, a lump forming in my throat once more as I clicked the door shut behind me.

“(y/n), Bill told me that you’re a dangerous person, what reason does he have to say that?” Stanford asked, I opened my mouth to answer, only for nothing to come out. I shrugged, unable to speak for myself.

“What kind of question is that?” Stanley asked, “If a criminal is asked if they’re a criminal, they won’t just tell you ‘yes’!”

“I’m… I’m not a criminal.” I started slowly, “I’m just a runaway kid with a dark past.”

“You could be lying.” Dipper’s eyes narrowed.

“If I were a criminal, I would have done something by now.” I snapped, looking the boy in the eyes, “What are your questions? I’ll try to answer them, but you have to understand that it’s my personal life and I don’t have to answer all of them.”

“Alright.” Dipper spoke, “What kind of hospital did you live in really?”

I hesitated, opening my mouth to speak only for Stanford to speak up, “Bill mentioned something about her being a ‘lab rat’, what does he mean by that, (y/n)?”

My mouth went dry, my eyes scanning the family before me. I swallowed before speaking, my heart rate jumping as I scrambled for an answer, “My dad worked in a lab…”

“Why did you run away?” Mabel asked, confusion crossing her expression.

“Because he was a horrible man,” I said, this time telling the truth, “He would do immoral tests on kids, trying to play god. His goal was to create the strongest bioweapon and sell it to those in power.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us back at Greasy’s?” Mabel questioned, a disappointed look on her face, one that made the pit in my stomach grow an ungodly amount. 

“Because I don’t know any of you,” I frowned, anger welling up in my chest as I spoke, “There are people hunting me down to make sure I don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to get anyone involved. Besides, I shouldn’t have to reveal my whole life story to strangers I just met!”

Dipper’s expression dropped, a guilty look growing in his eyes. I looked away, instead locking eyes with Stanford, “Bill said I was dangerous, and he’s right. Those men will kill you if they find out you know about the tests they run.”

Stanford nodded, “I understand, (y/n), I’m sorry that we were so quick to believe Bill’s words.”

“It’s fine,” I sighed, relief washing over me. 

“Thank God that’s over,” Stanley turned to walk into the kitchen, “Come set the table, kids, pizza will be here any minute.”

“Oh, we already ate.” Mabel said, giving her great uncle an apologetic look, “Sorry, Grunkle Stan.”

Stanley shrugged, “Eh, more pizza for nerd brain and I.”

Stanford rolled his eyes as the man disappeared into the kitchen, sending one more ‘Sorry, (y/n)’ my direction before exiting the room into the gift shop. I let out a breath, turning to the door.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going on a walk.” Before I could leave the shack, Dipper spoke up, his tone rushed.

“I’ll come with you.” he took a step towards the door. I sent him a confused look, only moments ago he was completely pinned against me, only now he wants to join me on a walk? 

I shrugged, “Sure.” I pulled open the door, the two of us exiting the lonely cabin in the woods. 

I walked towards the forest, Dipper’s eyes going wide, “Hey, where are you going? It’s dangerous in there!”

“That’s why I have you with me.” I shoved my hands into my pockets, my shoe crunching against the gravel. Dipper opened his mouth to retort, but he instead swallowed his fear and followed me across the deserted parking lot and into the forest.


	4. Once Before

       “So--uh, where are we going exactly?” Dipper questioned, his tone unsure as we trudged through the shaded forest.

       “I don’t know,” I glanced around at the tall trees and their brilliant green leaves, “Just wandering around.”

       “Well this isn’t exactly the most ideal place to ‘wander around’ in.” Dipper said, glancing around the vast forest before us.

       I didn’t answer, instead focusing on my footing as I stepped over a fallen tree.  My hip was pulsing with pain, and I began to wonder if Dipper was right. I separated a couple of branches obscuring my view, my eyes falling on a shimmering river.  I must have been so deep in thought that I didn’t hear the water rushing and splashing up and around the rocks. I took a seat beside it on a rock peering over the sparkling water, Dipper hesitating before taking a seat beside me.  

       We sat in silence, my head reeling over the events that had just occurred, Dipper probably doing the same.  I let out a sigh, falling down onto my back as I gazed up at the bright sky.

       Dipper cleared his throat before speaking, “Grunkle Ford said that Bill told him you were a ‘lab rat’, you never explained why.  You just said your dad ran some cruel tests on other people.”

       My stomach once again dropped, my (e/c) eyes clashing with his brown ones.  We stared at one another for a moment, daring each other to speak.

       I finally broke the silence, “Dipper, I’m sorry--”

       “(y/n), please, I swear none of us will tell anyone--”

       “Dipper--” I let out a sigh, rubbing my temples as I thought.  I knew Dipper would bring it up to Stanford if I didn’t tell him, which would only result in another humiliating interrogation.  However if I did tell him, he would tell Stanford and I could possibly be sent back to the lab.

       I then made my decision.  They were going to find out one way or another, but I could delay the others from finding out if I made Dipper promise not to tell anyone.  I pushed myself into a sitting position, my eyes not leaving his as I spoke, “You have to promise me something, you can’t tell anyone else, and you can’t turn me into the government no matter what the case may be, understood?”

       Dipper swallowed nervously, but nodded nonetheless, “I promise.”  

       “Good,” I looked down into the water, watching as the fish swirled around one another beneath my feet, “I was one of the experiments.  I don’t know how he did it, but my father somehow made me into one of the most powerful weapons known to man.”

       “What can you do?” Dipper didn’t seem surprised by my words.  In fact, it seemed as though they were normal to his ears; that he heard weirder before.  I honestly didn’t doubt it.

       “I don’t know all of it, but…” I glanced up at him, giving him a small smile, “Watch this.” I held out my hand, the boy hesitantly reaching out and grabbing it in his own, “Where’s the place you’ve always wanted to visit?”

       Dipper’s brows jumped, “Um, I guess I’ve always wanted to go to London.”

       I smirked, “You might want to close your eyes; people tend to get really dizzy if they leave them open.”

       The teen nodded, shutting his eyes as I followed suit.  I felt my eyes begin to burn, my chest welling up as I felt the ground change beneath us.  My eyes shot open, Dipper’s doing the same as the sound of whirring cars spun around us. There we stood, looking up at the odd mixture of skyscrapers and old brick walls, our hands clasped around one another’s.  I let go of the boy’s hand, stepping out of the alleyway and glancing around the corner.

       Dipper’s eyes were wide as he began to breath heavily, “Oh my god, we’re in London, we teleported and now we’re in London--”

       I shushed him, “We’re not actually here, I’ve just manipulated your consciousness into thinking we’re in London.  What you’re seeing isn’t what’s actually there. We’re still at the river, and no one here can hear us.”

       “I--” he cut himself off, looking around us.  I stepped back into the alleyway, quickly grabbing the boy’s hand before closing my eyes again, the same welling in my chest and burning sensation in my eyes taking place.  When we opened our eyes again, we were standing in the middle of the stream we were sitting at before, the water soaking through our shoes and wetting the rims of our pant legs.  Dipper let out a breath in awe, his head turning in my direction, “What else can you do?”

       “I can trick people’s vision and hearing, as you’ve just seen.  I can also manipulate people’s thoughts, making them think, do, or say whatever I want.  I don’t use it much, because I don’t like the idea of it, but it’s there.” I said, Dipper’s expression showing nothing but childish excitement as his brows jumped.  I let out a laugh, dropping his hand.

       “Make me say something random that I couldn’t think of.” Dipper said.  I smirked, thinking for a moment as the back of my head began to throb.  Suddenly, Dipper’s mouth opened, and out came the words I had thought of moments ago, “I should tell you everything about Bill because you told me your deepest secret.” Dipper paused, shock falling across his face as he looked over at me, only for him to step out of the rushing water onto the dirt and grass beside me.  

       “You really should, given I’m risking my life just telling you these things.” I agreed, crossing my arms and raising a brow at the boy, who then went pale.

       “That’s not up to me, (y/n), I’m sorry.” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “If I tell you, and Ford decides that you can’t know, then I don’t know what I would tell him.”

       I frowned, but nodded nevertheless, “Alright.  Just know that I’m trusting you. If you tell anyone, even Mabel, they’ll be in danger, understood?” he nodded, opening his mouth to speak only to be cut off by a gust of wind.

       I looked over my shoulder only to see the formally clad man I had seen back at the shack.  I glared at the demon, who simply glared back with a taunting smirk, “Ah, Pinetree, 107, great to see you two again.  Here in the forest of all places.”

       “What do you want, Bill?” a disapproving frown crossing Dipper’s lips, his brows lowering as he glowered at the man.  

       Bill began to spin his cane around his hand once more, floating a few inches above the ground before us, “I’ve come to put an end to this conversation, as well as have a nice chat with darling 107--”

       “Don’t call me that, you--” I was cut off mid sentence by the demon.

       “Well, Pinetree, we better be off.” He held his hand out to me, and as I opened my mouth, Dipper spoke for me.

       “She’s not going anywhere with you.” he shot at the man.  Bill threw back his head with laughter, hunching over as his cane stopped it’s spinning.

       “Oh, how precious; Pinetree trying to be the hero, when really she doesn’t need a hero.” Bill insisted, a smirk crossing his lips.

       “I appreciate the flattery, Bill, but Dipper is right, I’m not going anywhere with you--” I was once again cut off by the golden eyed man.

       “What she needs,” Bill continued, “is me, Pinetree.” he reached out, grabbing my wrist.  Before I could pull away, I found myself in a nicely decorated room. I looked down to see I was wearing an elegant white dress.

       “Take a seat.” a voice broke me from my thoughts.  My eyes shot up to look at the dream demon, who was sitting at a wood-carven table, its legs a resilient gold and the tabletop being a bright white.  On the table sat a grand meal, one that made my stomach rumble as I realized how little I ate during our time at Greasy’s. Bill was still dressed in his usual formal, black and gold attire, the man sitting sideways in his seat, his legs draped over the armrest of the wooden chair.

       “Go on.” Bill’s voice brought me back to reality for a second time.  Slowly, I stepped towards the chair, pulling it out from under the table and taking a seat, my eyes flowing around the delicately gold and white decorated room.  Bill began to speak, his tone full of confusion and frustration, “What were you thinking, telling Pinetree about your abilities? That was supposed to be a secret!”

       “What, are you mad that you can’t use it against me anymore?” I glared, tucking my hands in my lap.

       “No, I’ll just tell the sheriff if I have to.” Bill spoke as though he had thought it through a million times, “I’m upset because you ruined the whole goddamn plan!  Not to mention it was stupid for you to even mention having powers because now if your father finds out you’re in Gravity Falls--”

       “What do you care about my father?” I barked, my eyes boring into his own, “Why do you care so much who knows about my powers?”

       “Because I know things you don’t yet know,” Bill swung his feet around, planting them into the ground as he held my stare, “And that includes things about you, about your father, and most importantly, about your powers.”

       “Tell me.” I leaned forward towards the man, “I need to know these things, Cipher, please.”

       “Wow, I didn’t expect you to already be begging me to tell you what I know, but here we are.” he leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his stomach, “But guess what?  I’m not telling you anything.”

       “Why the hell not?” I snarled, my eyes burning with hatred.

       “Because it’s information your life depends on, and you’re an abomination that needs to burn.” his words were like venom, the man squinting his one eye as though he were looking at some sort of monster.  I didn’t blame him, he practically was. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I was at a loss for words, my eyes searching frantically over the dream demon’s expression as my mind pulled a blank.  Bill let out a laugh, only to sigh and continue his thought, “But even so, I can’t let you die for reasons unknown to you, so I’ll tell you this: this isn’t your first time in gravity falls.”

       My brows furrowed, “What--” my ears filled with static, a pained groan escaping my lips as I covered my ears.  

       Bill sighed, crossing his legs and picking up his glass of wine, “Well, it seems you’re waking up, so our conversation is over.”

       “Cipher!” I barked, only to close my eyes in pain, reopening them to find myself looking up at the red painted sky.  

       “(y/n), come on, wake up!” Dipper mumbled to himself from beside me as I could hear him going through some sort of book.  I groaned, my ears still ringing as my hip pulsed with pain. I pushed myself to a sitting position, the back of my head throbbing as I looked over at Dipper, “(y/n)!  Are you okay? What did Bill do?”

       “I… I’m fine, Dipper.” I sighed, but I knew I wasn’t.  What did Bill mean it wasn’t my first time in Gravity Falls?  What else did he know? Questions swirled around my mind, only worsening my headache further, “Bill just started going on about… stuff.”

       “Seriously, what did he tell you?” after I didn’t say anything, Dipper let out an exasperated sigh, “Come on, (y/n), I’m the only one who knows your secret, I can help you!”

       “Help who do what?” our heads spun in the direction of the words, our eyes landing on none other than Mabel Pines.  My stomach dropped, my eyes shooting over to Dipper with a pleading look, begging him not to tell her anything.

       “Help (y/n)... find some new clothes tomorrow while you’re shopping?” Dipper suggested, relief rolling over me.

       “Oh, you want to come?” Mabel grinned, “Great!  I’m glad you two are finally getting along!”

       “Yeah… we’re all cool, now.” I gave the girl a smile, “Anyways, what were you doing out here, Mabel?”

       “Looking for you two.  You’ve been out here for nearly two hours, Grunkle Ford and I were getting worried.” Mabel rose a brow, crossing her arms.

       Before I could make up something on the spot, Dipper stepped in, “We saw Bill--”

       “Dipper!” I hissed, tugging on his sleeve.

       “--What did he mean that you need him?” Dipper turned to me, confusion riddling his expression.

       I hesitated before clearing my throat, “I… He said he knows information that could save my life, but he said he won’t tell me right now.”

       “What do you mean ‘save your life’?” Mabel exclaimed, “Are you dying?”

       “I… I’m constantly in danger of my father’s goons finding me, so… So I guess it’s possible that I could die soon.” I stuttered, my body tensing.  

       “We have to tell Grunkle Ford--” I cut Dipper off.

       “No!” I exclaimed, knowing that if Dipper told Stanford he would question me on what Bill said, and he would eventually find out about what the dream demon said about me being in Gravity Falls once before.  

       I looked over at Dipper, the back of my head beginning to throb as I forced him to think about what I told him, to think about the consequences of telling Ford.  The boy immediately sent me a glare as my chest welled with guilt, but he nodded nevertheless.

       “We’ll wait to tell Grunkle Ford--” Mabel cut off the curly haired boy.

       “Why?  This is something he needs to know!” she attempted to reason.  

       “Mabel, think about it for a second!” Dipper said, “This is none of our business!  This is about (y/n), and if getting involved is as dangerous as she says it is, then we should stay as far out of it as possible.”

       “But--”

       “Please, Mabel.” I begged, “Just… give me some time.  I don’t want to get you involved until I fully trust all of you.”

       Mabel thought for a moment, only to let out a sigh, “Alright, I’ll trust you.”

       I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding, “Thank you, Mabel, it means a lot.”

       “Yeah.” Mabel sent me a concerned smiled, “Just… let us know if you ever need help, okay?”

       “Yeah,” I smiled, “I will.”

 

\----

 

       Heat radiated from the pavement where we stood, my head reeling due to the hot weather.  I turned to look at the twins on either side of me, my eyes locking with Dipper’s for a moment before his shot in another direction.  I followed his line of sight only for my attention to be brought to an extremely expensive looking car slowing down as it reached us. Once the vehicle came to a complete stop, the back door popped open, revealing a girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.  She was wearing a purple tank top with a black, high waisted skirt, her nails painted an elegant light pink. Her hair was up in a purple scrunchy, and draped on her shoulder was an expensive looking purse.

       She locked eyes with me, her brow jumping as she looked over what I was wearing.  I suddenly felt very under dressed, crossing my arms over my stomach in embarrassment.  She spoke, “Hi, I’m Pacifica, I’m assuming you’re (y/n).”

       I gave a small smile, nodding, “Yeah…”

       “Pacifica, be nice.” Mabel nudged the girl, who simply shrugged.

       “I wasn’t being rude, I just can see why you wanted my help picking out new clothes.” she looked over at Dipper, “Dipper, you hate these kinds of things, why do you want to come?”

       “I don’t know,” Dipper let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just didn’t want to be bored all day back at the Shack.”

       “And because of (y/n).” Mabel smirked, raising a brow at her brother, who rolled his eyes.

       “Where’s Candy and Grenda?” he asked, “Usually they’re here early.”

       “They said they’d meet us at the Shack after we new clothes for (y/n), they both have stuff going on today until later.” Mabel shrugged as Pacifica’s car drove off.

       “Why would they do that?” I frowned, my brows furrowing, “Aren’t we just getting new clothes?”

       Pacifica scoffed, “It’s like you’ve never met Mabel.  It’s never just new clothes.”

       I gave her a confused look as Mabel wrapped her arm around mine, “Makeover!” she exclaimed, “Come on!  The shops are about to open!”

        "Makeover?” I frowned, my confusion deepening.  Never have I had a makeover before, then again this whole ‘friend’ thing was new to me as well, so it made sense that I’ve never done any of the usual slumber party stuff.  

        We walked down the street of the small outlet.  Mabel agreed that we should go outside of Gravity Falls so Bill couldn’t interfere, as well as the fact that Gravity falls didn’t have any malls or outlets in town.  We would occasionally stop at a shop, Mabel and Pacifica excitedly picking out clothes for me to wear. The outfits I agreed on tended to be on the less attention-drawing side of the scale, much to Mabel’s dismay, while Pacifica agreed that less attention-grabbing clothes would suit my personality much more.  Dipper occasionally piped up, giving his opinion on the outfits Mabel and Pacifica chose, which I appreciated very much given we seemed to share a similar mindset.

        It wasn’t until we entered a larger store that we got separated, Dipper and I lost in the shoe section while Mabel and Pacifica seemed to have wandered off into the depths of the clothes section.  We didn’t notice, however, until I turned to show Mabel a pair of shoes I had taken a liking to and she wasn’t there. I turned to Dipper, my brows furrowed in confusion.

        “Dipper, do you know where Mabel and Pacifica went?” I questioned, the boy looking up from the pair of sneakers he was interested in and searching the room.  

        “I don’t see them…” he frowned, turning to me, “Maybe they went to use the restroom?”

        “Maybe.” I bit my lip nervously, glancing around.

        Dipper lowered his voice, “They’re fine, (y/n), Bill can’t leave Gravity Falls, remember?  He can’t do anything.”

        I nodded, my memory going back to what the demon had said to me.  I wouldn’t be able to find out anything on my own about my previous unknown visit to Gravity Falls, and the boy was the only one who knew my secret.  I was in a corner, and Dipper was my only chance out.

        I grabbed his arm, setting the shoes in my hands down as I dragged him towards the exit, “We need to talk.  It’s about what Bill told me.”

        Dipper set down the sneakers, pushing the door open as we exited the building, “What is it?”

        We stopped at the side of the store, sitting down on one of the empty benches.  I dropped the boy’s arm, turning to look at him, “Bill… Bill said it wasn’t my first time in Gravity Falls.  He said I’ve been there before, and that he knows information about my father and I, information that could save my life.”

        Dipper’s eyes widened, “(y/n), we have to tell Stan and Ford; they’ve lived here since before we were born, they’d know--”

        “No.” I said sternly, “I can’t get more people involved--”

        “Do you want to find out what Bill means or not?” Dipper snapped, my shoulders dropping as I thought.

        “Is there anyone else we can ask?  Anyone at all?” I begged, “Someone who knows just as much about Bill but doesn’t know about my father?”

        Dipper thought for a moment, “Not that I can think of, no.”

        I let out a sigh, “Let’s… Do some research on our own, then we can see about telling Stanford.”

        “Alright--”

        “There you guys are!” Mabel’s voice called, the two of us looking up to see the two girls walking towards us, “we couldn’t find you anywhere!”

        “Yeah, we were worried you two ditched us or something.” Pacifica said, crossing her arms.

        “We thought you two ditched us.” Dipper said, scratching his temple, “Anyways, did you find anything interesting?”

        “Yeah, we found a nice sundress for you to try on.” Pacifica said, uncrossing her arms.  Mabel nodded, grabbing my wrist and dragging me back towards the entrance of the shop.

        “Yeah, Pacifica will show you!” Mabel let go of my wrist, nodding for me to follow the blonde.  I complied, following the girl into the shop. We wandered back into the clothes section, Pacifica picking up a floral sundress.  I gingerly took it from her grasp, only for her to tighten her grip on the dress.

        “I’m sorry, (y/n), but Mabel’s making me do this.” she said, confusion riddling my face before she continued, “What’s going on between you and that nerd?  Mabel said you two were at each other's throats before yesterday, now you’re acting like you’ve been friends for years. what’s going on?”

        My brows furrowed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Pacifica.  Dipper and I were never at each other’s throats, we just didn’t know each other that well up until now.” I gave another tug at the dress, the girl letting go.

        “Alright, I believe you.” she said, “Mabel and I were always pinned against one another until Weirdmageddon, then we agreed to have a truce.  I guess you could say we’re friends now.”

        I paused for a moment, “Pacifica, what do you know about the secrets of Gravity Falls?”

        She let out a laugh, “Oh, I see, you two bonded over your weird obsession with finding everything wrong with Gravity Falls.”

        “I guess you could say that.” I gave a small smile, “Anyways, did you ever notice anything off about the people in Gravity Falls?  For example, do you know of a man whose last name was (l/n)?”

        “Oh, the (l/n) family?” Pacifica asked, “Yeah, my parents were good friends with them before they moved.  We used to have a picture hanging in our lounge of my parents and the (l/n)s all together. That was before McGucket bought our land, and we had to move into a smaller mansion.”

        Though I was shocked the girl lived in a mansion, I was more concerned about the mention of my parents, along with the fact that she mentioned I had two parents rather than just my father, “Do you know anything else about them, like why they left?”

        “My parents told me they adopted a little girl and moved so they were near a better school.  I heard one of them died in an accident on the way out of here, though. I don’t know, that’s just what my parents told me.” She frowned, “Why are you so curious about the (l/n)s, anyways?”

        “My name is (y/n) (l/n), Pacifica.” I said, crossing my arms and looking around to make sure no one was there, “I never knew my mom, and I didn’t know they lived in Gravity Falls before we moved.”

        Pacifica’s eyes widened, the girl opening her mouth to say something only to be cut off by Mabel, who was dragging a dumbfounded Dipper along with her, “Hey guys!  Oh, you saw the dress, (y/n)! Do you like it?” she asked excitedly.

        I looked down to see the beautiful floral design, “I love it, Mabel.”

        “Well,” Mabel gestured to the dress, “Go try it on!”

        “Mabel, shouldn’t we find some more clothes first so we can try everything on together?” I suggested, Mabel’s cheeks turning pink.

        “Oh, right!” she laughed at her ignorance, “Come on!  Let's go look at some more clothes!”

        Time flew by, the three of us girls trying on clothes we liked while Dipper was torn between getting a new flannel or getting a black T-shirt to replace his usual navy vest.  Finally the boy decided to just get both while Mabel, Pacifica and I got our clothes, Pacifica generously paying for mine rather than splitting the price with Mabel like we had done in the first shop.  

        Finally, the shopping spree had to come to an end, and the four of us piled into Dipper’s car with all our bags in our laps, Dipper and Mabel sitting in the front while Pacifica and I sat in the back.  The ride back to the Shack was silent, the only sound in the car being that of the old engine and the 80’s rock music playing on the radio.

        After the half-hour long drive, we finally arrived at the Mystery Shack to see two girls sitting on the front porch, their eyes lighting up as we pulled into one of the parking spots.  The shorter raven-haired girl pushed to her feet as we stepped out of the car, walking up to me and holding out her hand, “Hi, I’m Candy. That’s Grenda.”

        “(y/n), pleasure to meet you.” I shook her hand, sending a friendly smile towards Grenda.  After the introductions were finished, we entered the cabin, Mabel sending a quick ‘hello’ towards the Grunkles as we all piled up the stairs, Dipper wandering into the living room to most likely watch TV.  Once we were all seated in a circle on the twins’ bedroom floor, Mabel grinned between her three friends, causing me to shift uncomfortably.

        “Makeover time!” she grinned, reaching under her bed and pulling a makeup box into her lap and popping it open.  

        “Have you ever had a makeover before, (y/n)?” Grenda asked, her voice scratchy and deep.  I shook my head, all three Candy, Grenda, and Mabel gasping as Pacifica rolled her eyes.

        “O-M-G, girls, do you hear that!” Mabel exclaimed, causing me to raise a brow.  I turned to look at Pacifica for answers, who simply shook her head.

        “It’s like she’s never had a slumber party before.” Candy said, her hands on her cheeks.

        “That’s because I haven’t.” I spoke up again, the girls gasping once more as Pacifica’s brows shot up in surprise.

        “Never?” she asked, I shook my head, “Then prepare yourself.”

        “What…” Before I could ask what she meant, Mabel began to grin, setting her makeup box on the ground.

        “We’re going to have so much fun!  It’ll be like a girl’s night!” she clapped happily, “Okay, first, we’ll do (y/n)’s makeover!  Then we can play some games, then we can--”

        “Mabel, you’re scaring the poor girl.” Pacifica snickered, looking over at my shocked expression.

        “Oops.” Mabel giggled, “Okay, we’ll just wing it!  What outfit do you want us to do?”

        I thought for a moment, reaching into one of my bags and pulling out my favorite outfit out of the ones we had chosen.  (here, you can just come up with your own look, given we all have different tastes and hairstyles :D)

        With my outfit chosen, the girls quickly went to work, sending me to the bathroom to get changed.  Time flew by, Mabel working on my makeup while Pacifica played around with my hair, deciding what kind of hairstyle would match the outfit as Candy and Grenda painted my nails.  It felt nice to be pampered like this, especially after being on the streets for over six months. It then came to my mind about how kind Mabel has been to me, and how she clearly wanted to be my friend.  I smiled at the thought of having friends, something that I’ve never had the ability to have due to my current situation. I knew I shouldn’t get attached to anyone in Gravity Falls in case I had to flee again, but would it hurt just this once to have friends?  To finally feel appreciated for the first time in my life?

        I looked around me at the girls slaving away to make me look my very best, a small smile crawling across my lips.  Yes, it might hurt, but for once in my life, I was willing to take that risk.

        “What’s got you in such a great mood?” Mabel teased, bringing me back into reality.

        “What?” I asked in confusion, Mabel laughing.

        “You were smiling like crazy.” she said, causing my smile to widen.

        “Oh, it’s nothing.” I said, the girl raising a brow but saying nothing as she began to focus on my makeup once more.

        Finally, once my nails were dry, Pacifica was done with my hair, and once Mabel was done applying my mascara, the brunette announced my look was finally complete.

        “Come on, we have to show Dipper!” Mabel grinned, dragging me to my feet towards the door.

        “What?  Why?” I frowned.

        “Yeah, this is a girl’s night, remember?” Pacifica backed me up, causing me to send her a thankful smile.  After some convincing, we finally got Mabel to agree to leaving Dipper out of our ‘girl’s night’.

        After a few games and long conversations about various topics like boys, bands, etc., the clock struck midnight, Mabel letting out a long yawn, “Well, I think I’m going to hit the hay.”  Everyone but me nodded in agreement. I pushed to my feet, shoving my hands in my pockets.

        “I think I’m going to go on another walk.” I said, placing my hand on the doorknob.  Mabel gave a nervous look and I gave her a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t go far.”

        “Alright…” She smiled, “See you in the morning, I guess.”

        “Good night.” I agreed, stepping out of the room.  I shut the door behind me, creeping down the stairs and towards the front door, my ears picking up a voice.  I froze, focusing on the sound as I listened to Stanford.

        “What?  No, I don’t know.  What’s her name?” the man paused, “(y/n)?... Michael, you know I don’t want to work with you on any of your ‘experiments’.” my eyes widened, my heart rate racing as I burst into the kitchen, grabbing the phone from Stanford’s hands and slamming it back onto the receiver.  The man opened his mouth to speak, only for me to beat him to it.

        “Did you tell him I’m here?” I demanded.

        “I--”

        “Did you?” I exclaimed, clenching my fists as an attempt to stop my body from shaking in fear.

        “I wasn’t able to because you hung up.” Stanford said, my stomach dropping as my head spun.

        “You can’t tell him.  You can’t.” I begged, “Please, Stanford, I can’t go back there.  Michael (l/n) is my father, Stanford, and he’s an awful person, please--”

        “Alright, alright.” Stanford cut me off, “I won’t tell him anything, but I want a full explanation of what is going on.”

        “And I want to know how you know him.” I shook, pointing an accusing finger at the receiver.

        “He used to work with me, we were trying to find out all the mysteries of Gravity Falls.” he explained hurriedly, “Go to bed, (y/n), and tomorrow I want a full explanation on what Michael meant by ‘an experiment went rogue, and her name is (y/n).’”

        “I will explain, Mr. Pines, trust me.” I said, “Please, just promise you won’t say anything to anyone until I explain.”

        “I won’t.  Now go.” I nodded, turning only to find Dipper standing in the doorway wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants.  He gave me an apologetic look, one that I returned with a guilty one. I trudged up the stairs, leaving Dipper and Stanford in the kitchen.  Once I reached the twins’ room, I lied down on the floor between Pacifica and Grenda, lying awake for hours deep in thought before finally falling asleep.

 

(A/N): Hi!  A bit of a longer chapter as a thanks for all the support and kindness I've been receiving.  Thank you all for being so kind!  I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	5. Bill Fucking Cipher

       The next morning I was immediately hit with a wave of dread, my stomach dropping as the weight of a hundred pounds weighed down my shoulders.  I glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was only six AM. I let out a sigh, sitting up from my spot on the floor and pushing to my feet. I walked towards the bathroom door, pulling it open and entering the dimly lit restroom.  I quickly washed off whatever makeup I hadn’t gotten off the night before, leaving the bathroom shortly after and going to exit the bedroom, only to be greeted by an irritated looking yellow-eyed demon.

       “First, you show Pinetree your powers, and now the whole Pines family is going to find out!” her barked, his visible eye flashing red for a moment, “You are by far the worst at keeping secrets.”

        _‘I kept your’s, didn’t I?’_ I grumbled mentally, pushing past him and walking down the stairs, the man floating behind me.

       “But you couldn't keep your own.” Bill taunted, my eyes narrowing.

        _‘The first time was your own fault because you told them.  I felt like I could trust Dipper and evidently I could. Stanford was out of my hands, it was my father who called him.’_ I glared, _‘Besides, I didn’t tell Dipper everything,  I know way more about my powers than I let on, and you know that.’_ Bill scoffed, our conversation being cut short by the appearance of Dipper, who was entering the hallway from the living room, still in his pajama pants and oversized T-shirt, in his hand an empty mug.

       “Hey, Dipper.” I said, sending him a small smile, one which he returned.

       “Hey, do you want any coffee?  I was just going to get some more.” he offered, I nodded.

       “If you don’t mind, sure.” I smiled, the two of us entering the abandoned kitchen.  As Dipper quickly grabbed another mug from one of the dusty cabinets, Bill began to taunt me.

       “You really think that was my fault?” he asked, “You could have easily played it off as ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’, or ‘Bill makes things up all the time’.”

        _‘You don’t give them enough credit, Cipher, they’re much smarter than you think.’_

       “And clearly you’re not.” Bill frowned, causing me to scoff.

        _‘I outsmarted you with that deal, didn’t I?’_

       “You alright?” Dipper pulled me out of the heated discussion, holding a mug of coffee towards me, “You dozed off.”

       “Oh, yeah, sorry.” I gave a quiet laugh, “Just thinking about what I’m going to tell Stanford.”

       Dipper’s expression switched from amusement to guilt, “Look, (Y/n), I know you really didn’t want to tell anyone, I’m sorry--”

       I cut him off, taking the mug from his hands, “Don’t apologize; it wasn’t your fault.” I sent an aggravated look towards Bill, one that Dipper saw but didn’t point it out.  

       “What _are_ you going to tell Ford?” Dipper questioned, his eyes following my hands as I brought the steaming cup of coffee to my lips, “Do you think he can help us find out more about what Bill said?”

       “The truth?  I don’t know.” I let out a small sigh, setting the mug on the counter beside us, “I’m really not looking forward to it, especially since he’ll probably tell Stanley and Mabel.”

       “Who will tell us what?” a voice asked from the doorway, an exasperated sigh escaping Dipper’s lips.

       “Mabel, you always walk in at the worst time.” he mumbled as I turned to face her, only to see Pacifica, Candy, and Grenda standing behind her.  

       “Why is this the worst time?” Candy questioned, adjusting her glasses as her tired eyes looked between us.

       “Seriously, what’s going on between you two?” Mabel let out a gasp, “Are you telling me Dipper got a ‘big summer romance’ before me?!”

       “What?  No-- Mabel!” Dipper fumbled.

       “Mabel, I don’t do ‘romance’,” I sighed, “I’ve never even had friends before now.”

       “There’s a first for everything,” She sang, my eyebrows jumping at her assumption, “Anyways, tell us what?”

       “You’ll find out.” I crossed my arms, leaning against the counter, “Anyways, what are we going to do today?”

       “Well, we shopped, so our original plan is finished.” Pacifica shrugged as a wide grin spread across Mabel’s lips.

       “Oh no, Mabel… What are you thinking?” Dipper asked worriedly, setting down his mug as well.

       “Let’s go to the lake!” she grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet, “We haven’t been since last year, and now they let people swim!”

       Pacifica scoffed, “I’m not swimming in that.”

       Dipper nodded in agreement, “Yeah, Mabel, I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

       “Well, we can go behind the waterfall and hang out!” Mabel suggested, “Come on, guys!  (y/n)’s never been to the lake before! It will be fun!”

       “Mabel…” I trailed off for a second, “Alright-- fine, let’s go later, though.  Dipper and I have to talk to Stanford for a moment, we’ll see you in a bit.”

       Before Mabel had the chance to speak, Dipper grabbed his mug, me doing the same as he spoke, “Come on, I think he’s in the gift shop with Soos and Stan.”

       “Soos?” I questioned as we walked past the group of dumbfounded girls.  

       “He works here at the Shack.  He actually took over because Stan and Ford were going on a long trip.  They came back to see us and that’s when we hit you.” Dipper explained, my head bobbing up and down in understanding as we walked through the ‘staff only’ doors.

       We were greeted by an empty gift shop, confusion riddling my face as Dipper walked over to the vending machine.  I opened my mouth to speak, only for the yellow eyed demon to beat me to it.

       “Well, Pinetree certainly has gotten better at lying in the past three years.” Bill spoke, crossing his arms as he floated beside me.

        _‘Lying?  What do you mean?’_ I asked in both confusion and irritation, _‘He hasn’t lied about anything.’_

       Bill scoffed, “And I thought you were the smart one.”

       I glared at Bill before turning to Dipper, who had entered a number into the vending machine, “So why exactly are we getting chips from the vending machine--” Before I could finish, a loud beeping noise rang out into the gift shop, the vending machine swinging out from the wall like a door to reveal a rickety old staircase.  My jaw dropped, Dipper looking over his shoulder and letting out a small laugh at my expression.

       “How many secrets do you guys have?” I questioned, glancing between the unstable looking staircase and Dipper.

       “Way more than the average family, that’s for sure.” Dipper answered, Bill scoffing.

       “Way too many, he means.”

       I rolled my eyes at the demon’s antics, following Dipper down the staircase and closing the ‘door’ behind me.  We traveled down the set of stairs, stopping once we reached an elevator, Dipper opening a panel beside it and imputing another code.

       “Why is this place so protected?” I questioned, Bill crossing his arms and mouthing along to Dipper’s response mockingly.

       “To keep Bill and other people out.” he said, my brows jumping.

       “Not doing the best job.” Bill snickered.

        _‘I hate that I have to agree with you.’_

       Dipper pressed the ‘down’ button on the elevator door, the two of us waiting for the lift to arrive in silence, Bill whistling a tune in boredom.  Once the elevator doors opened, the three of us stepped in, Dipper to my right and Bill to my left, Dipper pressing the button with the number two on it.  Dipper stayed silent, meanwhile Bill took this opportunity to remind me of what not to do.

       “If you tell Sixer about my presence and I’ll be sure to kill all of you.” Bill warned.

        _‘I won’t, asshole,’_ I snapped, _‘If I told him about you or our deal, I doubt he would trust me anyways, and if you were to tell him, you wouldn’t be able to get your revenge.’_

       “And why are you bringing that up?” Bill questioned, raising a brow.

        _‘Just reminding_ you _that if you tell anyone any more about me that you’ll never be able to get your revenge.’_ I shrugged, crossing my arms across my chest.

       Bill’s brows jumped, a scoff escaping his lips, “Are you threatening me?”

        _‘Maybe.’_

       Bill smirked, a hum escaping his throat as he turned back to the lift doors, which began to open with the ring of a bell.  Dipper waited for me to exit the elevator, but my body froze as my eyes landed on all the equipment in the room. My throat tightened, my hands balling into fists as my heart skipped a beat in horror.

       It was the exact same equipment my father’s lab owned.  The exact same paint job right down to the model of the machines.  My eyes widened, Dipper’s words drowned out by the beating of my own heart.

       He was going to experiment on me.

       He doesn’t want to help.

       He might turn me in.

       My mind reeled with these thoughts, only for Bill’s voice to enter my head.

        _‘Kid, wake up, you’re freaking everyone out--’_

       I threw my hand to the side, my arm coming in contact with Bill’s chest as he stumbled back, his eyes widening in shock.  I needed to get out of there, _now_.  Panic filled my chest, making it feel as though it were going to explode as terror blurred my vision.

       “(y/n),” Dipper’s voice rang in my ears, my eyes darting over to the blurred boy, his hands on my shoulders, “What’s wrong?  Talk to me, (y/n)!”

       “I… I…” I took a deep breath, calming down my racing heart, my irrational thoughts disappearing as they were replaced with more reassuring ones.

       What reason would Stanford have to experiment on me?  He even said he wanted nothing to do with my father’s tests.  I’m safe.

       “(y/n)?” Dipper asked again, my eyes focusing on his brown ones.

       “I’m fine.  Just…” I pulled Dipper’s hands from my shoulders, dropping them back to his sides as I spoke, “Anxiety attack.”

       Dipper’s expression dropped, his eyes showing nothing but sympathy.  He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by someone at the doorway.  We turned to see Stanford, in his hand a circuit board and a screwdriver in the other.  It was then that I realized the man had six fingers opposed to five.

       “Ah, Dipper, (y/n), come in.  I was just working on a new invention.” he waved us in, walking back over to his desk as the two of us exited the elevator.  I turned to look at Bill, only to find him standing in the elevator in shock.

        _‘Bill?’_ I questioned.

       “You shouldn’t be able to touch me while I’m in this state.” he muttered, glancing up at me only for him to disappear in a burst of blue flames, the man no longer standing there when the fire died down.  It was clear that Dipper and Stanford couldn’t see the fire, so I said nothing and continued following Dipper towards two chairs Stanford had set up prior to their arrival. We both took a seat, Bills words floating around my head.  What did he mean I shouldn’t be able to touch him?

       I shrugged, assuming it must have something to do with my powers before looking up at Stanford, “What do you want to know, Mr. Pines?”

       “Just call me Ford,” He said, setting down his things and turning to the two of us, “Dipper, I’m assuming you’re here because you want to know, too?”

       “No, she already told me.  I’m just here to see if I can help at all.” Dipper said, Ford glancing over at me.

       “Why did you tell just him?” he questioned, my shoulders shrugging up and down as my eyes darted between the two.

       “I felt like I could trust him not to say anything to anyone.  Besides, he was the one to approach me about how I was hiding something else.” I looked over at Dipper.

       “Alright,” Ford sat down in his desk chair, staring intently at me, “What did your father mean when he said--”

       “Wait,” I interrupted, “No, I have a question for you.  Pacifica said that my family and I lived in Gravity falls before we moved, and yous aid you worked with him while he was here.  You should have known my name, and when I mentioned my father’s experiments, you should have known who my father was. Why didn’t you say anything?”

       Ford let out a sigh, “You’re quick, but trust me, I had my suspicions.  As for why I didn’t say anything, there are some things you don’t need to know--”

       “He’s hunting me down like an animal, Ford, of course I need to know!” I barked, sitting on the edge of my seat.

       He shook his head, “I’m sorry, (y/n), I can’t tell you.  It’s part of a deal your father and I made years ago before we knew he was evil.”

       My fingernails dug into the wooden armrests of the chair, “What do you mean?  What’s the connection between my father and Bill?”

       “While I just wanted to document the oddities of Gravity Falls, your father was more curious as to how to recreate them, and that included Bill’s powers.” he paused, “What do you know about your powers, (y/n)?”

       My hands fell into my lap, “I can read people’s thoughts-- I can control them, too.  I can manipulate people’s vision... Somethings I forgot to tell Dipper was that I can move things without touching them… I have super strength as well as speed and agility… The last experiment my father did on me was to see if I can survive underwater without breathing…”

       “There’s a lot more you can do, (y/n).” Ford sighed, “Here’s the deal, your father and I can’t tell you anything directly or Bill will have access to control our bodies for the rest of eternity, but I can help _you_ figure out the rest of your abilities.”

       “Why the hell would you make a deal like that?” I snapped, “What on earth did Bill offer that was so amazing that you had to make that deal?”

       “Our lives.” Ford said glumly, my shoulders dropping at his words, “Anyways, are you willing to let me help you figure out the rest of your powers, or would you rather find them out yourself?”

        _‘Don’t do it’_ Bill’s voice warned me, his words swirling around my head, _‘He’ll treat you like an experiment, just like your father did.  I know, what do you think they did to me?’_

       I froze, my breath catching in my throat as my eyes connected with Bill’s, who was now floating right beside me.  His expression showed an unreadable emotion, his eye swirling with pity. I knew he was lying, I could sense it with every bone in my body, but something within me forced me to croak out an answer without a second thought.

       “No.” I said, my tone stern, “I’m done with tests, and I don’t want anyone involved with my abilities anymore.  I’m done.”

       Bill gave a relieved sigh from beside me, confusion riddling my expression as Ford gave a disgruntled look.

       “If that’s what you want.” he pushed to his feet, grabbing a two red, leather-bound journals off his desk and handing them to Dipper, “Show her everything in these books; she needs to know if she’s going to be staying in Gravity Falls any longer.”

       My brows jumped, “I never said I was staying here, Mr. Pines.”

       “I had told your father that Bill was back, (y/n), which means he won’t come here in fear of him.  He owes Bill something, and if Bill catches him here--”

       I cut him off, “So what you’re saying is that Gravity Falls is the safest place for me right now.”

       “Exactly.” Dipper nodded, “Are we going to tell Mabel and Grunkle Stan?”

       Ford looked over to me, his expression practically yelling ‘it’s up to you’.

       I shrugged, “It’ll be better for them to know, that way they don’t accidentally get involved.”

       “Alright,” Ford nodded, “we’ll tell them once Mabel’s friends leave.”

       “Alright.” I spoke, Dipper nodding from beside me as Bill shook his head, saying nothing.

       “Come on, everyone’s probably waiting for us.” Dipper nodded towards the door.  I nodded, the two of us pushing out of our chairs and heading towards the door.

       “And (y/n),” Ford said, causing me to stop and look over my shoulder as Dipper pressed the elevator’s ‘up’ button, “If you ever change your mind about your abilities, just let me know.”

       “Alright, thank you Mr-- I mean, Ford.” I nodded. the elevator doors opening.  The three of us entered, Dipper pressing the button for the main floor as I let out a sigh.

       “I really don’t want to go to the lake.” I muttered, Dipper nodding.

       “Neither do I.  Mabel’s probably going to force us to swim either way.” he crossed his arms.  My stomach dropped at his words. Ever since my father’s experiments, I’ve had a fear of the water.  The idea of being unable to breath, frantically searching for a final breath beneath the pounds of water above made my blood run cold.

       Bill snickered, “Aw, does someone have a little phobia?”

        _‘Fuck off’_ I sent the man a glare.

       “Oh, don’t be that way.” he pouted, causing me to roll my eyes.  Dipper began to speak, turning my attention away from the floating demon.

       “You okay?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” he said, worry swimming in his eyes.  I shrugged.

       “I’m not a big fan of water, that’s all.” I sent him a small smile as the doors opened, the two of us stepping out as the demon floated after us.

       “Oh, I’m sure Mabel will understand.” Dipper smiled as we trekked up the stairs.

       “I’ll tell her when we get there.” I shrugged, though my hands were balled into fists, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.  We exited through the vending machine door, stepping into the empty gift shop. We walked back through the employee only doors once more, turning to see Mabel digging through the shoe closet.

       “Mabel, what are you looking for?” Dipper asked, the girl turning to look at us.

       “A pair of flip flops.  I can’t find mine.” Mabel spoke, more to herself than to either of us.  

       “They’re in the closet in our room.” Dipper said, Mabel frowning.

       “No, I checked, they weren’t there.” she said.

       “Oh, then I have no clue.” he shrugged, “Where’s everyone else?”

       “They’re getting ready to go.” Mabel said, turning back to the closet, “I’d wear something cooler, the weatherman said it would be hot today.”

       “Alright.” I nodded, the two of us walking past her and up the stairs to the twins’ room.  Once we entered the room, Candy and Grenda glanced over at us before returning to their previous conversation.  I grabbed my bag, Dipper walking over to his dresser as I entered the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I unzipped my bag as Bill began to speak, leaning against the sink as he watched me.

       “You know, you’re not as safe in Gravity Falls as you think.” Bill smirked, “Hell, you’re not safe anywhere.”

        _‘You don’t think I know that?’_ I frowned, _‘Just because my father can’t come here doesn’t mean his men can’t.  It’s a risk to even be here at the shack, let alone Gravity Falls. I’m leaving tonight.’_

       Bill’s brows jumped, “You think I’ll let you leave that easily?”       

       My eyes furrowed, _‘What do you mean?’_

       “You’re not leaving.” Bill said, pushing off the sink and taking an intimidating step towards me, “You’re staying here, if you leave, I’ll kill everyone in Gravity Falls, including you.”

        _‘You can’t kill me.’_ I bluffed, _‘I could take you down easily with my powers.’_

       “Bullshit.” Bill crossed his arms, “I know all there is to know about you, including your weaknesses.  You’d be dead the moment I set eyes on you.”

       I thought for a moment, all these people could die because I was being selfish and put myself before others.  I frowned, _‘Fine, I won’t leave.  But I want you to leave me alone.’_

       “No deal, kiddo.” he said, levitating off the ground, “Just know I’m willing to kill everyone in this town if I wanted to.”

        _‘Just leave, Bill.  I need to get changed.’_ I snapped, entirely over the conversation.  The man rolled his eyes, but nevertheless floated through the door, leaving me to my thoughts.

       After getting changed into a pair of shorts and a black band tank top with the addition of a black and white flannel, I put on my socks and shoes and exited the bathroom, only to be greeted by Mabel, Grenda, and Candy, their eyes boring into mine as they stood before me.  Mabel was wearing a sundress over her swimsuit while Candy and Grenda both wore outfits similar to mine. Pacifica, who was sitting on one of the beds as to not get involved.

       “What’s going on between you and Dipper?” Mabel questioned, her eyes narrowed though a grin formed across her lips.

       “Nothing, Mabel, he’s just teaching me about Gravity Falls and about Bill.” I said, Mabel’s grin dropping as Candy and Grenda went pale.

       “Why are you interested in Bill?” Pacifica asked slowly, I shrugged, reminding myself that she, Candy and Grenda didn’t know Bill was back.

       “Because he’s a part of Gravity Falls.” I said, Mabel nodding and giving a small smile.

       “Oh, okay.  Let’s go!” she said as an attempt to be enthusiastic.  She grabbed my hand, dragging me down the stairs as the two girls followed.  Dipper was already downstairs wearing a pair of grey cargo shorts and a black tank top.  He smiled at us, a life vest in hand as he held it out to me.

       “What’s that for?” Mabel frowned as I gratefully took it from him.

       “I can’t swim.” I shrugged.  I knew I was lying; my father had made me swim for hours, along with other military training, but because several of my father’s experiments had to do with being submerged underwater for long periods of time, I hadn’t taken too fondly to being in the water.

       “Oh, we don’t have to swim if you don’t want to Mabel said, disappointment evident in her expression as I shook my head.

       “You four can swim if you want, I’ll just sit out.” I smiled, Mabel frowning but nodding nevertheless.

       “Let’s go.” Dipper said, glancing over at the three girls, “Whose car are we taking?”

       “Let’s take the Grenda’s van so we don’t have to go in separate cars.” Mabel said, Dipper nodding as he pushed open the front door.  I set the life vest aside, assuming I wouldn’t be swimming as we followed Dipper out of the shack.

 

       After the short drive to the lake, we rented a couple of canoes, Mabel practically forcing Dipper and I to share one canoe while she, Pacifica, Candy and Grenda shared the other.  It was evident what she was trying to do, and while I was not happy about being set up with her brother, I was grateful I wouldn’t be sharing a canoe with Mabel and the girls as to not get bombarded with more questions about Dipper and I.  

       During the boat ride, it was nearly silent, Bill whistling an odd tune to accompany the splashing of the oars against the water as we paddled towards the waterfall.  I looked over the wall of the canoe, swallowing hard as I stared into the deep green lakewater.

       “What’s wrong, kiddo?” I felt arm sling over my shoulder accompanied by Bill’s voice, “Scared of a little water?”

        _‘Get your arm off me you creep.’_ I mentally growled at the demon, who laughed.

       “Oh, don’t be like that-- Oops!” he shoved me hard towards the water, my heart stopping in my chest as I sucked in a gasp of breath, my eyes squinting shut as I felt frantically for something to catch onto.  My hand latched onto something, my brain not processing what the item was as I clawed at it, dragging myself away from the depths of the muddy water.

       Bill snickered, causing my eyes to fly open.  I glanced down at the thing between my fingers only to find the arm clad in a suit sleeve belonging to Bill Cipher, his other hand gripping my shoulder tightly as to not let me fall into the inky abyss.  

       “You really think I was going to let you fall?” he snickered, my eyes darting to his face as I gave him a fiery glare, my grip on his arm tightening as I yanked down on it harshly, the man tumbling off the boat and into the water, his collision with the water creating a loud splash.  Dipper’s attention was drawn away from the approaching island to me, then to the water beside us.

       “Was it a fish?” Dipper asked, only for Bill’s head to emerge from the water, his hair soaked and his hat nowhere to be found.  Dipper’s expression dropped as he locked eyes with the demon, his skin growing pale as I glared fiercely at the man.

       Bill glared back, “You shouldn’t be able to touch me.”

       “You were the one who tried to shove me in the water.” I snapped back.

       “You shouldn’t be able to toggle whether others can see me or not, either.” Bill continued, his visible eye widening in realization.  He shot out of the water, the man grabbing me by the shirt and dragging me close, our noses nearly touching, “How did you do that? Who told you you can do that?”

       “What-- No one!” I barked, attempting to push the man off of me, but it was like trying to move a car with no wheels, “I just-- I just _did it_ , I don’t know how.”

       “You’re lying to me.”  Bill threatened.

       “Read my mind, you’ll see I’m not.” I glared back, “And it wasn’t Ford, you know that.”

       “I’m doing that now.” Bill snapped, looking over to Dipper, then to the water, deep in thought, “That fucking--”

       “Bill--”

       “I’m going to kill that son of a--”

       “ _Bill_.” I snapped, gaining the man’s attention, “People can still see you--” Before I could finish my sentence, the man was gone, goosebumps pricking my skin as a gust of wind shifted the boat.  I turned, locking eyes with Dipper, who was staring in awe.

       “Who was it?” Dipper asked quietly after a moment of silence, “Who taught you?”

       “My father.”

       We were silent, our eyes locked in silent agreement to keep the occurrence to ourselves.  Slowly, Dipper reached out to grab the oars again, me following suit as the two of us continued to paddle.  

       After what felt like forever, we reached the waterfall, Dipper not slowing down as we approached the rushing water.  I froze, my eyes clashing with the back of Dipper’s head.

       “Dipper, what are you doing?” I questioned, the boy looking over his shoulder at me.

       “We go under the falls to get to the hangout.” Dipper said in a matter-of-fact tone.  The hairs on the back of my neck rose, my stomach jumping at his words.

       I shook my head.  I’d be fine. I knew I would, but I couldn’t help being scared.  I nodded, picking up my oars once more and giving a hard push against the water, Dipper doing the same as we picked up speed, approaching the falls at an eager pace before plunging into the plummeting water.  Like that, we were through the waterfall, our clothes sticking to our skin and our hair covering our faces. I shivered, not out of fear, but out of the sheer temperature of the freezing water. I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it away from my face as I looked over at Dipper, who was looking over at the three girls watching from the shoreline as Pacifica ranted on about her clothes being soaked.  

       I would have laughed, but my eyes were wide in shock at the beauty of the cavity, the blue glow of the sun coming through the waterfall lighting up the cave as the reflections of light danced across the ceiling.  I locked eyes with Dipper, the boy giving me a toothy grin as I smiled back, my eyes lingering away before landing on Mabel, who was watching the two of us closely.

       Our canoe came to a clumsy stop, the boat rocking forward and causing me to nearly fall out of my seat.  I watched as Dipper stood, following his lead and stepping out of the boat into the icy water. My breath caught in my throat, memories of being submerged into icy cold water rushing back to me in a wave.  I hesitated, forcing my memories away before shaking my head, bending down to help Dipper drag the boat onto the shore so it wouldn’t float away.

       “What took you two so long?” Mabel teased, leaning back on her arms as she laid on the shore on a purple towel, “Oh, or did we disturb your makeout session?”

       “Piss off, Mabel.” Dipper snapped, not looking at her as he reached into the boat, pulling his phone from a plastic ziplock bag.

       Mabel smirked, she, Candy, and Grenda all whooping as Pacifica rolled her eyes.

       “How badly do you want Dipper to have a girlfriend for you to actually set him up with _me_?  An antisocial teen runaway who you’ve known for three days and could totally do drugs without you knowing.” I rose a brow at the girl.

       “You don’t do drugs, (y/n), anyone can tell that.” Mabel challenged as I reached my hand to my neck, rubbing it.

       “You got me there.” I chuckled in surrender.

       “Also, it’s not your fault you’re antisocial.” She continued, “And you’re right to have run away.”

       “Exactly.” Pacifica said, crossing her arms, “Blah, blah, blah, whatever-- (Y/n), a word?”

       I frowned, but nodded nevertheless, following the blonde away from the group to the other side of the cave.  I opened my mouth to question her, but she was way ahead of me.

       “I know what you are.” she muttered, my brows jumping cooly.

       “What exactly am I, then?” I questioned.

       “A lab rat.” she snapped, my eyes widening.  How did she know? Of course, her parents knew my father, but I never mentioned anything about his experiments, and I wouldn’t expect him to mention it to her parents, either.

       “How do you-”

       I was cut off by the girl, “You have a scar on your right ankle in the shape of a triangle, right?”

       I frowned, “Why do you know so much--”

       “I have one too.” she glanced over her shoulder at the group before rolling her pant leg up, revealing a scar of three fine lines forming a triangle.  

       My jaw dropped, “You--”

       “I’m a failed experiment, (y/n).  My parents could care less about me, so they let your father test on me, but all he did was bind Bill to our family--”

       “Pacifica--”

       “And then my parents used Bill for years before--”

       “ _Pacifica_.” I gained her attention, the girl looking over to me with irritation swimming in her eyes, “Why would my father test on you before me.”

       “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” she whispered harshly, “Your dad-- He never had a wife!  He’s not your dad at all!”

       My eyes widened, my stomach dropping as my brain processed the words that just came from her lips.  I took a deep breath. My whole life was a lie. Everything. Where did I come from? Where are my parents?  Questions swimmed in my mind, my lips parting and closing as I attempted to form words.

       I swallowed hard, “Pacifica, what powers do you have?  And what does Bill have to do with anything?” I asked slowly.

       “He has everything to do with this!” she barked, gaining the attention of the four teens on the other side of the cavity.  She quickly hushed her tone, “I don’t have any abilities, (y/n). I was a _failed_ experiment.  My parents wanted more power so they agreed to let your dad make--”

       The world around me faded, my ears beginning to ring as I stumbled back.  I felt like I was falling, my head spinning as I forced myself to open my eyes.  I could hear Pacifica calling my name, her hands on my shoulders as she shaked me.  Suddenly, my vision cleared, my ears ringing as Pacifica’s voice tuned out completely.  I couldn’t move. _I couldn’t move_.  I wanted to scream, to call for help, but I couldn’t.  My arm abruptly swung towards her, my hand wrapping around her throat as my other followed suit.  I shoved her against the stone wall. I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t. I felt as though I was floating in my own body, screaming at myself to stop.  I felt myself saying something, but I couldn’t hear myself speak. I could only watch as Pacifica’s eyes widened in horror as she began frantically clawing at my hands.  I spoke some more as I felt hands pulling me away from the girl, only to regain control of my numb hands, air filling my lungs as I was yanked sharply away from the girl, the ringing in my ears fading away only to be replaced with yelling.

       “(y/n), what the hell?!” Dipper yelled, his hands wrapped around my arms as Mabel ran to Pacifica’s side, the girl staring at me in horror.

       “I-I don’t know- I just lost control a-and--”

       “He’s back.” Pacifica exclaimed, “It’s Bill!  It was Bill! He-He took control of her and--”

       “Pacifica, calm down.” Candy reassured, kneeling down beside her.

       “She grabbed me and in _his_ voice she said ‘I’m back’.” Pacifica said, looking between me and the others.  I felt something hot running down my lip, my hand reaching up to wipe it away, retreating it to find blood smeared across my palm.  I pushed my sleeve against my bleeding nose, watching the scene roll out before me.

       “Bill’s back?” Candy asked slowly, Mabel going pale as Dipper’s grip on my arms loosened.  

       No one spoke, Mabel and Dipper locking eyes as I sighed.  They knew, and I knew we couldn’t keep it a secret anymore.  

       “He’s been back for a few days.” I said, Dipper squeezing my arm to stop me, but I continued, “My first day here I found his statue and accidentally brought him back.  I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

       The group fell silent.  Dipper being the first to speak, “In her defense, Bill lured her there.  She had no idea who Bill was and that just touching the statue would bring it back.”

       “Thanks, Dipper,” I muttered.

       “Why didn’t you say anything?” Pacifica asked angrily, pushing to her feet, “We helped you take him down last time, we could have helped take him down this time, too!”

       “He’s stronger, and Ford didn’t want anyone to know.” Dipper said, his hands dropping to his sides.  

       “She knows.” I muttered, “She knows all about my father, Dipper.  All about me.”

       “What?”

       “It’s true.” Pacifica said, rubbing her throat, “Our parents were friends.  I know more about her than she does.”

       “What’s going on?” Mabel asked, “What about (y/n)’s Father?”

       “He was a madman with the brain of a genius who decided to make a weapon of mass destruction, AKA me, okay?!” I snapped, running a hand through my hair as I began to pace.  Suddenly, the world around me faded once more, and I could feel my body go limp. I collapsed, falling to the ground before losing consciousness entirely.

 

A/N: Hi!  Sorry for the long wait, but it's finally here!  Hurrah!  I hope you enjoyed! :)


	6. It's a Deal

       “Sorry, kid, but I had to do that.” I heard a familiar voice speak.  I felt the hard tile beneath me, prying open my eyes and focusing on the man kneeling before me.  I stared down his single yellow eye as he frowned down towards me.

       “Bill.” I began slowly, only for my voice to raise in anger as I pushed myself up from the ground, “What the literal fuck were you thinking?!  Now more people know you’re back, and they’ll stop trusting me because they know I’m a lab rat!” when Bill gave me a simple grin in response, I began yelling, “Isn’t that the exact opposite of what you wanted?!”

       “No, dear, it’s the exact opposite of what you wanted.” he said, pushing to his feet and stepping away from me.  I crawled to my feet, watching the man carefully as he walked towards a grand window.  I glanced around the room, finding myself in a Victorian study, behind me being a giant oak door and a wooden desk, and before me the great window Bill stood at now.  I stepped forward, taking my spot beside the man and looking out the window only to see nothing but forest.

       “Bill.” I spoke sternly, “What did Pacifica mean when she said you have everything to do with my father?  With my powers?”

       He huffed, but said nothing.  I glanced over at him, his expression calm, though I could feel his usual aura of chaos radiating off him.  But something was different, he seemed deep in thought, as though he was choosing his words carefully.

       Finally, he spoke, turning to me, “I’ll make a deal.” I flinched, the man laughing before continuing, “I’ll tell you everything about your powers, about your father, and about the connection between you and I, right here, right now.”

       “But?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat at his generous offer.

       “But,” he said, “You lure your father into Gravity Falls.  I don’t care how you do it, just get the job done.”

       I stood there, staring up at the man in awe.  Such a mundane and easy request for such a reward seemed ridiculous, almost impossible.  There had to be a catch, and I knew there was, but as I reached out my hand to take his, I couldn’t stop myself from letting the single, most life changing word escape my lips.

       “Deal.”

       Bill let a grin crawl eagerly across his lips, the man snapping his fingers as two chairs appeared behind us.  He didn’t let go of my hand as he sat down, pulling me into the seat beside him. I stared at him in anticipation, the excitement of learning everything I should have known before overpowering the disgust I felt as his hand enclosed around mine.

       “First, the most important thing is what have you noticed about your powers?” he asked, releasing my hand and crossing his arms across his chest.  I bit my lip as I thought for a moment.

       “The fact that I can basically control what state you're in.” I frowned, Bill pursing his lips as he nodded.

       “Yeah, that's pretty important.”  Bill spoke, shifting in his seat as he stared back out the window, “I suppose I'll start with how you got your powers; Northwest was incompatible due to the fact she wasn’t… strong enough to hold onto her powers.  You, however, you were so curious about what that man you call your father was doing, and, you being a part of a family that was close friends with your ‘father’, he let you work with him and Sixer-- well, more that he babysat you rather than you actually working.”

       My eyes furrowed, “I… actually wanted to be apart of the experiments?”

       “No, not exactly,” Bill's brows jumped, “You actually were more curious about how the machinery worked than what he was doing.  It was when your parents went missing that he decided to adopt you rather than let you rot in an orphanage.”

       My brows jumped, “He was trying to help me?”

       “That was before I mentioned you were compatible.” Bill huffed, “The look on his face when I told him was priceless.  When he told Sixer that he made the deal, that’s when things went wrong.”

       “Deal?” I frowned, “What do you mean he ‘made the deal’?”

       “What, you really think he was smart enough to actually come up with how to recreate my powers himself?” he laughed, “No.  He made a deal to have me transfer the powers I attempted to give to Northwest to you. Now how I did that… That’s a bit more complicated.”

       “And?” I asked.  I was sitting at the edge of my seat, my eyes locked with his as he rolled his eyes.

       “And, I did that by transferring a small fraction of my abilities into you.  Meaning I can possess you at any time without kicking your consciousness out of your body.   Not to mention how that explains that you can control whether people can see me or not.”

       “Why was I compatible and Pacifica wasn’t?” I frowned, my eyes searching the man’s prideful expression.

       “Because you, unlike that blonde brat, were a part of a family that had made a deal with me in the past.  Your mother, she made a deal that if she could save you from the miscarriage she was expected to have, that I would be able to do whatever I wanted to her and her husband.  A big mistake on her part, given I’m a demon, not some sort of saint.” his expression changed to one of boredom as he leaned back into his seat, “I sacrificed them to make me stronger.  This happened when you were around seven, and it took a year for that oaf to adopt you, and I managed to convince Sixer to let Wings experiment on you--”

       “First of all, you sacrificed my parents?” I exclaimed, pushing to my feet.

       “Humans get so teary eyed at the loss of a few souls.” Bill sighed, “I expected better from you, given you’re not technically human.  They’re not dead, they’re rotting somewhere in Tennessee in some mental hospital wandering around soulless.”

       My eyes widened, “You mean--”

       “Your parents won’t recognize you, of course.  All their emotions, memories… pretty much everything that made them alive is gone.  Now they’re just zombies.” my heart dropped at his words, but he continued nevertheless, “As for your next question, which I assume is ‘who the hell is Wings’, that would be Michael, your ‘father’.  He was the one to make the deal to have a portion of my powers transferred into your soul.”

       “My parents-- What were their names?” I asked, slowly sitting back down in my seat.

       “I preferred to call them Sun and Moon, given they were polar opposites.  However their names were Darla and James Hampton. Anyways, can we get back on topic?” Bill sighed, “Your powers; Something went wrong, and your father found out how to expand your powers to be almost as powerful as me.  Now, I saw this happening when it was too late, and forced the two to make a deal with me. They couldn’t tell you anything or else they would be thrown into the rift forever.”

       “But my father fled Gravity Falls so you couldn’t get to him.” I finished, my eyes falling to the ground, “Then he enrolled me into an experimental facility to continue expanding my abilities.”

       “Exactly.” as Bill said this, my ears began to fill with static, the man letting out a sigh.  “Looks like Sleeping Beauty is waking up. Shame, I was just about to tell you what your powers can do.”

       “I’ll meet with you later.” I rushed, my head beginning to throb.

       “Woods.  Midnight.” Bill said, and with that, I forced my eyes shut, reopening them to see five different people staring down at me.

       “(y/n)!  Are you okay?” Mabel exclaimed as I sat up, my head reeling and my stomach churning.

       “I’m… I’m fine.” I said, rubbing the back of my head, pulling my hand away to find it covered with blood.  

       “You hit your head when you fell.” Dipper said, “We were just about to carry you to one of the boats.”

       “I’ll be fine.” I muttered, “Let’s… Let’s just go back to the Mystery Shack.”

       “(Y/n)...” Mabel frowned, “What happened?”

       “Nothing, Mabel.  It must have been from Bill possessing me.”  I sighed, “Just too much for me to handle.”

       “We both know that’s utter bullshit, (y/n).” Pacifica frowned, “Tell us the truth.”

       I flinched, not entirely sure what Bill would do to me if I told them about the deal we had made, so I began to improvise, “Bill… He told me about my father.” I muttered, Pacifica’s shoulders dropping.

       “What did he tell you?” she asked.

       “Well, for starters, he told me what you meant by ‘he has everything to do with this.’” I sighed, “Second, he sacrificed my parents and now they’re brain dead somewhere in Tennessee.”

       Mabel’s eyes widened with pity, “(y/n)...”

       “It doesn’t matter.” I sighed, pushing to my feet.  I stumbled, Dipper grabbing my shoulder as to stop me from falling, “Let’s go.”

       “But--”

       “Now.” I snapped, Candy falling silent at my tone.  I immediately felt guilty, but I refused to show it, hobbling past Grenda and Dipper as I made my way towards our canoe.  I could feel the hot blood dripping down my neck and soaking into the collar of my flannel. After a moment of waiting, I heard the sand shift beneath someone’s feet, Dipper coming into my view as he reached for the canoe.  I waved him off, the boy sending me a confused look as I simply snapped my fingers, the canoe launching itself from the beach and into the water. Dipper’s jaw dropped, only for him to shake his head and step into the water, pushing himself into the canoe as I did the same.  

       The ride back to the Mystery Shack was silent, and it wasn’t until Candy, Grenda, and Pacifica had left that Dipper turned to speak to me.  

       “(y/n), what’s going on?” he asked, my eyes jumping to his.  We were sitting in the twins’ room, me sitting on the mattress I had been using for the past few days as Mabel and Dipper sat on the floor across from me.  

       I sighed, “I--” I shook my head, looking up at the sloped ceiling and then back down to the set of twins before me, “Bill wants me to lure my father into Gravity Falls.”

       “Woah, woah, woah, did you make a deal with him?” Dipper asked, his eyes going wide, “(y/n)!  You know how bad of an idea it is to make a deal with Bill!”

       “He’s right, ya know.” a voice came from behind me, a voice all too familiar.

       ‘Not now, Cipher.’ I frowned, looking down at my hands.

       “(y/n)...” Dipper’s glare was boring into my skull.  I couldn’t take it anymore.

       “Yes, okay?  I made a deal with Bill Cipher!” I exploded, my eyes jumping between the two, “But it was a good deal, all I have to do is get my father to come to Gravity Falls.”

       “What do you get in return?” when I didn’t answer, Dipper snapped, “(Y/n)!  We can help you! Just please tell us!”

       “Information.” I muttered, “I get information in return.  Bill promised to tell me everything he knows about Michael (l/n), and about my powers.”

       “What did he tell you?” Mabel asked before Dipper could get the chance to bombard me with reasons why I had made a stupid deal.

       “I…” I glanced over my shoulder at the demon sitting beside me, his eyes boring into my own.  I looked back over at the twins, “I can’t say. Not until I know everything.”

       “(Y/n)!  What the hell?” Dipper exclaimed, “Bill has you in the palm of his hand!  You can get killed!”

       “Do you seriously think I care whether I die, Dipper?” I barked, “I’ve gone through Hell already, I don’t give a damn if I get killed.  Shit, Dipper, I welcome death with open arms! But if I’m going to die, I’m taking them all down with me.”

       “Who?” Mabel asked, her eyes shooting between Dipper and I.

       “You’ll see.” I snapped, pushing to my feet.

       “(y/n)--” Mabel tried to stop me from leaving, “We can help you lure your father here!”

       I was silent for a moment, only for me to mutter out a few words, “I’m going on a walk.”

       I pushed the door open, going down the stairs two at a time as I ignored Mable’s protests.  I walked out the front door, jumping over the steps and bolting into the forest. After a long period of time, I stopped running, my eyes landing on a figure standing before me.

       “Bill.” I greeted, crossing my arms.

       “107.” Bill nodded, my eyes furrowing.

       “Don’t call me that.” I snapped.

       “I’ll call you whatever I want, kiddo.” Bill’s brows jumped, causing me to throw my arms down to my sides.

       “Whatever.  Can we continue talking about my powers now or not?” I asked, Bill shrugging as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

       “I suppose.  I’ll have to revert to my physical form to show you how to do certain things, but yes, we can.” I nodded at this, Bill suddenly disappearing completely.  I frowned, taking a step forward.

       “First--” I jumped, spinning around to see the Dream Demon leaning against a fallen tree, “Teleportation.  Pretty simple, all you have to do is ditch that meat suit.”

       “What?” I asked, frowning, “What do you mean?”

       “Well, the only reason why you can do some of your abilities now is because I gave them to you in this form.  However, you’d be a hell of a lot more powerful if you just shed that meat suit.” he said, my brows jumping.

       “And how do I do that?” I frowned, placing my hands on my hips.  Bill rolled his eyes.

       “Easy, just think it.  You should feel a burning sensation all over, pretty painful, but hey, pain is hilarious.” he chuckled, my eyes furrowing.

       “Pain isn’t funny in the slightest.” I frowned, only to close my eyes.  I thought hard, my eyes burning as I squinted them shut.

       ‘He might be tricking you’ I thought.

       ‘He’s lying.’

       ‘Do you really want everything to change?’

       “You have to mean it.” Bill spoke from beside me, “No intrusive thoughts.”

       “I can’t.” I shook my head, opening my eyes.

       “You can’t, or you won’t?” Bill frowned.

       “I won’t.” I snapped.

       “Your appearance shouldn’t change,” Bill pressured, “Neither will your abilities to affect the world around you.  Why won’t you?”

       “You could be tricking me.” I snapped, Bill’s brows jumping.

       “Second deal of the day; I promise I won’t trick you in any way, shape, or form when it comes to your father and your powers.  In return, I want you to work with the Pines family to get your father into Gravity Falls. Do we have a deal?”

       “Why are you giving me deals like this?” I frowned.

       “Let’s face it, kiddo,” Bill sighed, crossing his arms, “As much as I want to completely destroy you, I can’t, not just because I need you to get your father to come here, but for hundreds of other reasons.  You need me because I’m the only one who can tell you about your abilities, and help you become more like me.” he held out his hand, “Do we have a deal?”

       I frowned, staring down at his gloved hand before gingerly taking his hand, shaking it, “Deal.”

       “Great!” Bill clapped his hands together, “Now, about that meat skin.  The reason why you have to work so hard to figure out your abilities now is because your abilities are confined to such a small space, otherwise known as your body.  Get rid of that bad boy and it will be a hundred times easier to figure out your abilities on your own.”

       “I’m trusting you.” I muttered, closing my eyes and trying again.  My skin began to boil, my ears ringing as let out a yell of pain, but I kept my eyes shut, and before I knew it, the pain was gone, my eyes opening to see my body sitting before me, her (e/c) eyes glazed over, her body sprawled out on the forest floor.  I suddenly felt as though I was going to throw up, my head spinning as my mouth began to water.

       “107, meet 107.” Bill joked, glancing between me and what used to be me, “Now, look at you, you’re in your physical form!”

       “I look the same, right?” I asked, patting down my clothes and hair.

       “Yes, only difference is your eyes, but who cares about that?” he waved me off, “Anyways, now we have to dispose of the body.”

       “Wait-- Your just going to kill her?” I exclaimed, Bill raising his brows.

       “Kid, it’s just a shell.  It has no soul, nothing to distinguish it from alive or dead other than a heartbeat.  We’re getting rid of it.” he snapped his fingers before I could retaliate, the body going up in flames only to disappear seconds later.

       “Where’d it go?” I asked, staring at the spot where the body once was.

       “Different dimension.  Doesn’t matter.” Bill waved me off, “Now! You’re pretty much on your own, kid.”

       “Wait--What?” I gave him a shocked look, “I thought you--”

       “I’m not tricking you,” he held up his hands in surrender, “It’s just that there’s really only one trick to it; you basically just think it and it will happen.”

       I frowned, “Really?  That’s it?”

       “Yep!  See you later, kiddo!” before I could stop him, Bill disappeared with a gust of wind.  I frowned, looking around only to realize I had absolutely no idea where I was.

       ‘Just think it’ I thought to myself, closing my eyes and thinking hard.  My head began to reel as my eyes began to water. I opened them only to find myself standing in the living room of the Mystery Shack.  

       I looked around, only to find that I had barged in on some sort of meeting between the Pines family.  Dipper and Mabel were sitting on the sofa, Stanley sitting at one of the arm chairs as Stanford stood in the doorway of the living room.  

       Everyone was staring at me, my eyes darting between everyone’s expressions of shock.  I cleared my throat, “Sorry, did I interrupt something?”

       “Kinda.” Mabel said, “I didn’t know you could teleport.”

       “Neither did I.” I shrugged, looking over to Stanford, “Let me guess, you were telling Mabel and Stanley about everything, right?”

       “Yes, but it seems like Mabel already knew.” Stanford frowned, “She also told me about what happened today at the lake.”

       “Cool…” I let out a sarcastic huff of laugher, clapping my hands together as I began to walk towards the door, “That’s great, well, I was just about to leave, so just continue your conversation.”

       “Not quite, (Y/n).” Stanford moved in front of me, “Where were you?”

       “Forest.” I looked over at Dipper and Mabel, raising my brows and nodding to Stanford.

       “We told him.” Mabel said, fiddling with her hands in her lap.

       “Everything.” Dipper added, staring me dead in the eyes.

       “Well, Mr. Pines, I made a deal with Cipher for information, as you know, and I just got all that information, so I suppose I can tell you all of the deal now.” I sighed, stepping back to face everyone.

       “All of the deal?” Dipper frowned.

       “Well, I told you all of the deal before, however I just made a new deal.  Bill can not trick me in any way when it comes to my powers or my father as long as I work with you guys to lure my father into Gravity Falls.” I said, continuing before any of them could jump in, “Now, before all of you begin to scream at me for making another deal, let me explain, I bill was teaching me how to change to my physical form to become more powerful so I can get my father into Gravity Falls.”

       “(Y/n)...” Stanford trailed off, “Do you know why Bill wants Michael to come to Gravity Falls?”

       “Probably because he wants revenge for my father breaking his end of the deal.” I suggested.

       “He’s going to kill him, (y/n).” Stanford tried to reason, I shook my head.  He didn’t understand. He would never understand. All the tests I went through, all the training I did, and all the poking and prodding wouldn’t go unpunished.

       “So?” I barked, losing my temper, “He destroyed my life, Stanford, he deserves more than death!  He tried to recreate my abilities on his own, in the process killing more than a dozen kids! He deserves death a thousand times over!”

       “Think about this rationally, (y/n),” Stanford sighed, “But think of it this way; the more souls Bill collects, the more powerful he gets, he will be able to take over Gravity Falls without a problem this time, and he’s trying to get you to help him.”

       I shook my head, “No, he’s--” I froze, Bill’s words coming back to mind as my stomach dropped.

       “I mean, It was a part of the deal.” the demon’s smirk deepened, “You let me out of the realm and help me get my revenge on the pines twins and I don’t tell anyone about your little secret.”

       I froze.  How had he been able to trick me so easily?  He was using me to his advantage the whole time.  I’m a puppet and he’s got control of the strings.

       “That son of a--” I held my head, “He’s using me!”

       “Just don’t make anymore deals, okay?” Dipper sighed, “We can stop him together.  We have you, you can overpower him now.”

       “I don’t know how much I can do, Dipper.” I sighed.

       “Then we’ll train you!” Dipper offered, “You can take up Ford’s offer on him showing you your powers, right?”

       “I don’t know, Dipper.  As far as I knew, (y/n) shouldn’t have been able to teleport.” Stanford spoke slowly.

       “My father figured out a way to expand my abilities.” I shrugged, “Anyways, I’ll figure something out, okay?”

       “We’ll help.” Dipper said, sending a reassuring smile in my direction.  I smiled back, looking back over at Stanford.

       “Look, the last time we dealt with that annoying triangle, everything went to hell.” Stanley spoke, “We need to take care of this fast.”

       “Yes, and we can’t do it the same way we did it last.” Sanford frowned, looking down at his feet in thought.  

       My eyes lit up as I looked over at Stanford, my head bubbling with ideas, “We can figure out what my father did to expand my powers and make me more powerful than Bill.”

       “Perhaps.” Stanford nodded, “I’ll do some brainstorming.  Dipper, I want you to teach (Y/n) everything about Gravity Falls, assuming you didn’t get the chance to before.”

       Dipper sighed, nodding, “Let’s go.”

       I watched Dipper walk past me, closing my eyes and reopening them, finding myself in the twins’ room.  After a moment, Dipper pushed the door open, jumping in surprise to see me standing beside his bed, waiting for the boy to grab his bag.

       “Stop doing that.” Dipper snapped, walking past me towards his bag, “It’s annoying.”

       “Sorry…” I trailed off, a small laugh leaving my lips, “It’s fun.”

       Dipper shook his head, grabbing his drawstring bag and throwing it over his shoulders.  He then walked towards the door, looking over at me, “Come on, I have to show you something”

       I nodded, the two of us moving swiftly down the stairs and pushing open the front door.  Dipper stopped outside, taking a seat on the porch steps and nodding for me to sit beside him.  I did so, plopping down on the step and pulling my knees to my chest. I let out a small sigh, resting my chin on my knees as I listened to the sounds of nature.  I tried to concentrate on the sound of rustling trees, the fresh smell of pine, and the cool air blowing against my face, but I couldn’t. My head was reeling, my bottom lip sandwiched between my teeth as I thought.  No one was safe; Bill could kill everyone in gravity falls if he wanted to. As much as I hated to admit it, we were utterly screwed, and it was all my fault.

       “How did Bill help you to figure out your powers?” Dipper asked, breaking the silence between us.

       I shrugged, poking the dirt with the toe of my shoe, “He just told me to turn to my physical form, then he told me I was on my own.”

       “So he didn’t tell you anything about what your powers do?” Dipper questioned as I shook my head.

       “No.”  I turned to look at him, my eyes darting between him and the bag on his shoulders, “What’s the bag for?”

       “Stuff in case we run into anything.” Dipper shrugged, pushing to his feet.  He pulled his keys out of his pocket, walking towards his car. I quickly jumped to my feet, scurrying after him to keep up.  Dipper took a seat behind the wheel as I walked around the car to sit shotgun.

       Dipper started the ignition, my expression laced with confusion as I spoke, “Where are we going?”

       “Out of Gravity Falls where Bill can’t reach us.” Dipper said, my brows jumping as he continued, “The shack isn’t safe, I know that.  The unicorn binding spell was only supposed to be temporary.”

       “Oh.” I muttered, looking down at my hands as he pulled out of the parking spot.

       “And,” he spoke, “I’ve seen you glare at nothing before, and I’m assuming the thing you were glaring at was Bill.”

       I nodded, “He said he’d kill me if I told anyone he could come into the shack.”

       “It’s fine, I don’t blame you.” he spoke, his eyes unmoving as he drove down the driveway, “Before I tell you anything about Gravity Falls, I need you to tell me exactly what Bill told you.”

       “About what?” I frowned.

       “Everything.” Usually, such a request would have made my blood run cold, but within the few days I had spent conscious in Gravity Falls, I had grown close to the curly-haired boy.  For once in my entire life, I felt as though I could trust someone with my past.

       I let out a breath I was unaware I was holding, my head nodding as I let out a breathy ‘okay’.  

       Once I began talking, I couldn’t stop.

       I spoke about my past, all the experiments I had gone through, my father, everything.  By the time I was finished, I was surprised when no tears came rolling down my cheeks. Instead, it was as though a million pounds was lifted from my shoulders, the guilt that had been eating me away for years not falling away completely, but going into a deep slumber.  I

       By the time I had finished talking, I knew we were far out of the sleepy town, and I wasn’t surprised in the least when Dipper stopped for gas at a gas station.  

       Once Dipper had paid for his gas, he jumped back into the car, parking at a nearby library before turning to me.  His eyes said it all; pity and anger swirled in his eyes, his lips twitching as I looked down at my hands. When no words came, I looked back up my eyes clashing with his as we sat in silence.  It was then that I got to take a good look at the boy; his curly hair falling in his face, his half-hidden birthmark peeking from behind his locks of chocolate brown hair, his deep brown eyes hitting the light in such a way that made them look like a burning fire.  

       I looked down at my hands, words flowing from my mouth before I could stop them, “Look, I know that’s a lot to digest, but all that happened in the past.  Right now, we have to focus on stopping Bill.” I nearly laughed at the irony of my words; how was I supposed to focus on stopping Bill when all I can think about is my past?  

       “(Y/n)...” Dipper frowned, neither of us speaking for a moment only for the boy to continue, “I’m sorry…”

       “Thanks,” I mumbled, fiddling with my hands in my lap.  I looked up at the boy, “Well, what about Gravity Falls?”

       And with that, the tables flipped; Dipper going on a nonstop rant about the past happenings in Gravity Falls as well as his own theories he had accumulated over the years.  he told me about his first summer in Gravity Falls, right down to the moment Weirdmageddon ended. He told me about how he and Stanford had thrown the journals into the bottomless pit, and how nothing weird had happened until I came to Gravity Falls four years later.  

       Once Dipper finished, the sun had begun it’s journey below the horizon, the boy turning the key in the ignition as neither of us spoke, my brain processing all the information I was given.  It wasn’t until Dipper pulled out of the parking lot that I began to speak.

       “Where are we going?” I asked, the boy keeping his eyes on the road as he waited for an opening to turn onto the main road.

       “There’s a diner not to far from here.  I assume you’re just as starving as I am.” Dipper spoke, causing me to realize how badly my empty stomach burned.  After a moment, Dipper piped up once more, “Maybe you making a deal with Bill wasn’t so bad after all.”

       “What do you mean?” I asked, my brows furrowing as I turned to look at the boy.

       “Maybe you can gain his trust.” Dipper said, “We can lure your father here and we can use his help to kill Bill once and for all.”

       My blood ran cold at his words, a lump forming in my throat as I attempted to speak, “I… Dipper, I can’t-- No, I won’t join sides with that man.”

       “(Y/n), what if it’s the only way?” Dipper asked, causing me to go silent.  I stared down at my hands, my heart hammering in my chest as I thought.

       “I hope to God it doesn’t come down to that.” I spoke, looking back up at him.  

       “Me, too.” he looked over at me, his eyes lingering on my own before rolling back onto the road.  


	7. A/N: IM SO SORRY

OKAY SO I'm so sorry about the agonizing wait I made all of you go through.  School has the tendency to get in the way.  To make this up to you, the next chapter will be FULL of action!!

ALSO THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE CHARACTER DEV: 

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD take this poll in order to determine who the reader ends up with!!!

https://quotev.com/quiz/11581247

(Copy and paste into search bar, link won't work)

I love you all, I'm sorry again!!

Love, Liz ❤


	8. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this chapter! And thank you guys for taking the time to take the poll I posted on my previous Author Note. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

       The bells on the door jingled as we stepped inside the empty diner, the sweet smell of coffee and toasted bread overwhelming my senses.  I glanced around to find myself in an old-fashioned diner, the checkered walls causing a sense of claustrophobia I wasn’t expecting as Dipper and I took a seat in one of the red leather booths.  I grabbed one of the menus from the end of the table, Dipper doing the same as we looked over the menus. We sat in silence, my eyes jumping to meet his every so often before darting back down at the laminated paper before me.  

       “Hello!” A voice spoke, Dipper and I looking up to see a brunette waitress standing before us.  She had bright green eyes and a broad smile; one of those smiles that were clearly fake but looked not at all strained.  She was beautiful, to say the least, and I couldn’t help but feel a hot sensation welling in my chest as I noticed Dipper staring at the girl.  “My name is Mandy, and I’ll be serving y’all today, what could I get started for you today?” I nodded for Dipper to go first, the boy stuttering out an order before the girl turned to me.

       “Could I please have a (drink of choice) with a (Food of choice), please?” I asked, smiling up at the girl as she wrote down my order.  

       “Of course!” She smiled, “Where are y’all from?”

       “California.” Dipper smiled, “My sister and I go to Gravity Falls every summer.”

       “I’m from Georgia.” I smiled, “Just visiting, the same as him.”

       “That’s nice.” she smiled, setting down a set of forks and knives, “I’ve heard some crazy stuff about that town.  Then again, we have rumors of our own.” she tucked her notepad under her arm, “Anyways, you two enjoy your vacation.”

       “Thanks.” I smiled as she walked away.  I turned back to Dipper, who was opening his mouth to say something only for me to beat him to it, “Won’t they be worried about us back at the shack?”

       “Don’t worry, I’ll text Mabel and let her know.” Dipper pulled his phone from his pocket, hesitating before setting it on the table, “(y/n), what if we help get your father into Gravity Falls?”

       I rose a brow, “But what about what Ford said?  About how it would make Bill stronger?”

       “But remember my plan before?  About using your father to take Bill down?” Dipper suggested, “And if you get close to Bill, then it will be easier for you to get rid of him.”

       I thought for a moment.  While that idea could work, I was worried about what I would have to do to get Bill to trust me.  I was terrified of the idea of having to kill innocent people for the Dream Demon, or having to use my powers for his horrible plans.  But what was a few lives compared to the millions that Bill would take? Did the good outway the bad?

       “We’ll see what Ford says,” I said hastily, my eyes darting down to my hands, “Keep thinking, though.”

       “(Y/n), that plan could work, Why--” Dipper frowned, his shoulders dropping as he glanced out the window.  I looked up at him as he turned towards me, “Just, consider it, okay?”

       “Okay.”

       We sat in silence for a moment, the two of us just staring at one another, only for Dipper to speak again, “How long have we been out?”

       “Um…” I glanced at the clock on the wall, “No idea.”

       “We left around twelve…” Dipper frowned, glancing at his watch, his eyes going wide, “We’ve been gone for four hours.”

       “Damn,” I bit down on my lip, “They’re probably worried.”

       “It’s fine,” Dipper sighed, “No one’s called me, yet.”

       “Alright.” I muttered, looking down at the table, “Dipper, what about the girls?  They just found out Bill is back, what if they tell everyone in town?”

       “I doubt Pacifica would, I’m more worried about Candy and Grenda.” Dipper frowned, “They’ll probably want to help, and maybe put themselves in danger.”

       “Yeah.” I looked out the window, “Damn, this is all my fault.  I’m sorry, Dipper.”

       “Hey,” Dipper said softly, “You didn’t know that touching the statue would release Bill.  It’s not your fault. We shouldn’t have let you leave like that in the first place, you were still hurt, and--” he stopped, “Hey, how is your hip, anyways.”

       It was then that it occured to me that my hip had completely stopped hurting, along with the throbbing pain in the back of my head.  “It… Doesn’t hurt.” my brows furrowed as I felt the back of my head. There was no blood coating my hair, and there was no scab where I had hit my head.  Dipper said Bill can regenerate, maybe when I changed to my physical form, my injuries regenerated.

       “Are you sure?” Dipper asked, his eyes boring into my skull as I checked my side for bruising.

       “Yeah, maybe I regenerated or something.” I frowned, shaking my head as I spoke, “Anyways, that’s not important.  I’m sorry I got everyone into this mess. I promise I’ll fix it.”

       “We’ll help,” Dipper smiled, “We’ve got your back.”

       “Thanks.” I gave him a small smile, one which he returned.  Before our conversation could progress, Mandy came back with our food.  she set down my steaming meal, fresh out of the oven. Honestly, I was so starved that anything would have been the equivalent of a gourmet meal.  I immediately thanked the girl, my hand reaching out for the silverware--

       I heard a click, my eyes darting up to see the brunette holding a gun to my face.

       “You’re coming with me, 107.” she spoke.  Before I could process what was happening, the gun flew from her hand, the girl soaring backwards and falling onto a table a few meters away.  The table fell from beneath her as I pushed to my feet, looking over at the gun as it flew back into my hands. I pointed the weapon at the girl, her green eyes swimming with pain and fear as I approached her.  

       “I’m not going anywhere.” I snarled, the words flowing from my mouth.  I looked down at the gun, examining the weapon before turning on the safety lock, tucking the gun in the waist of my belt, “Thanks.”

       “(y/n),” Dipper was on his feet, the boy looking out the window.  I followed his gaze, watching as a government van pulled into the parking lot.

       “Let’s go.” I spoke, grabbing Dipper’s hand and dragging him with me.  I looked up at the bar, seeing an older woman practically trembling as she watched us leave.  I turned away, the two of us barely making it into the kitchen as the front door burst open, a whole S.W.A.T. team entering the small diner.  Dipper and I ran to the back door, pushing it open and sprinting out into the hot summer air. We ran around the back of the building, peeking around to see several men guarding Dipper’s black car,  two of the men peering into the windows.

       “I’ve got this.” I said, thinking hard.  The men all fell to the ground, the gravel crunching beneath them as Dipper and I ran to the car, Dipper unlocking the car and jumping in.  I was halfway into the car when Dipper started pulling out of the parking space, causing me to hold onto the seat for dear life as I reached for the door to shut it.  The door slammed shut, Dipper swerving out of the parking lot and slamming his foot on the gas as we drove down the road, I looked out the window, watching as the men ran out of the restaurant, some taking aim at our car while the man in charge waved them off.  

       “Oh my God.” Dipper breathed, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the wheel.

       “Dipper, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that they’d find us there--”

       “That was awesome.” a ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he looked over at me.  My lips formed a grin, something fluttering in my chest as I did so. I looked away, watching as we disappeared into the trees.  

       Dipper didn’t slow down until we passed the big sign welcoming us into Gravity Falls, the boy slowing down to the speed limit.  I looked out over the town, my lips forming a frown as several plumes of smoke drifted above town.

       “Dipper, look.” I pointed to the smoke, the boy’s lips turning to a frown as he followed my gaze.  “Do you think Bill--”

       “Let get back to the shack.” Dipper cut me off, a feeling of dread coming over me as we drove in silence.  

       “Pinetree, 107, pleasure to see you’re back.” an all too familiar voice spoke from the back seat.  Dipper swerved onto the side of the road, stopping the car as he looked over at the eyepatched demon.

       “Bill, what the hell did you do?” I barked, a merciless grin crossing his lips.  

       “Well, remember our little conversation, love?” he sneered, “I told you that if you left town, I would kill everyone in Gravity Falls.” my heart dropped, my stomach spinning as a wave of nausea overcame me.

       “Bill-- I-- Fuck!” I screamed in frustration, the demon letting out a laugh.

       “But, I was generous.” he said, smirking.  A bit of hope sparked in my chest as he continued, “For every hour you were gone, I burned down one house.”

       I wanted to scream at the demon-- no, I wanted to kill him.  I wanted this mess to disappear. I wished I had never entered Gravity Falls.  I wished I had died when Stanley hit me with his car. I knew wishing would do nothing, so I sat silently as Dipper spoke.

       “Who died?” he asked, the demon humming.

       “No idea.” he spoke, “Better find out.” and with that, he disappeared, a groan escaping my lips.

       “Why didn’t you tell me?” Dipper asked, my hands cupping my face.

       “When he said that, I thought he meant I couldn’t leave forever.  Like pack my bags and leave.” I mumbled, “I also forgot.”

       Dipper sighed, “Let’s just hope everyone’s okay.” he put his car in drive, pulling back onto the road and quickly making his way to the shack.

       Once we had parked, we were relieved to find the shack untouched, Mabel sitting outside waiting for us.  As we stepped out of the car, Mabel pushed to her feet.

       “Where the hell were you guys?” Mabel yelled, both Dipper and I taken aback by the girl’s unusual anguish, “Bill burned down five houses while you were gone!  All with blue flame! Everyone in town knows he’s back.”

       “We went out of town so Bill couldn’t listen into our conversation.” I spoke, “We got attacked by my Father’s men.”

       “Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are in town to explain the situation.” Mabel sighed, running a hand through her hair.  Her eyes were red, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of all the smoke, or because she had been crying.

       guilt welled in my chest, my eyes dropping to my feet.  I felt a hand on my back, Dipper leading me to the steps as he spoke, “Come on, we should all get inside.”

       Mabel and I followed Dipper inside, the three of us heading up stairs to the twins’ room.  Mabel closed the door behind us as I took a seat on the mattress sitting on the floor, Dipper crawling onto his bed as Mabel walked over to her own.  I glanced over at Dipper, words forming in my thoughts as I sent them towards him, the boy’s eyes looking up at me.

       ‘Should I tell Mabel what I told you?’

       ‘What about Bill?’ Dipper questioned.

       ‘He already knows everything about me.’

       ‘Then go ahead’

       “Mabel,” I spoke as the girl plopped down on her bed, “I already told Dipper all this, but you should definitely know.”

       “Go ahead,” she sent me a small smile, “I won’t judge.”

       And with that, I was off again, explaining my life story and how I got here.  This time, my explanation was much more condensed, knowing we were short on time before the Grunkles got back.  

       Once I was finished, Mabel nodded, the girl staying silent for a few moments before speaking, “That explains a lot.”

       “Yeah.” I sighed, biting my lip as I looked down at my intertwined hands.

       “I--” Mabel was cut off by the bedroom door opening, revealing Stanley.  He looked between Dipper and I before speaking.

       “There you kids are.  The town’s people promised to leave Bill to us.” he summarized, Dipper nodding.

       “Good.” he said, letting out a sigh, “We got attacked by (y/n)’s Father’s men.”

       “Do they know she’s in Gravity Falls?” Ford’s voice came from behind Stanley as he moved to peer into the room.

       “Yes.” I said, “She was our waitress, she asked where we were headed and we both said Gravity Falls.”

       “Damn,” Stanley cursed, causing me to shake my head.

       “It’s my fault.  I should have been more careful.” I flashed a small glance towards Dipper.  A hot feeling bloomed from my chest, anger welling within me as I locked eyes with him.  It wasn’t my fault and he knew it. He knew he was so preoccupied by his attraction towards the girl that he hadn’t taken the time to think about his actions.  

       I looked away, anger and this hot feeling I couldn’t decipher swirling within me.  I spoke, trying hard to control my shaky voice, “Who died?”

       “The Valentino family.” Ford said, Mabel covering her mouth with her hands.

       “Robbie’s parents are dead?” Dipper asked in shock.

       “Yeah,” Stanley frowned, “The sheriff called the kid to let him know.  I’m sure he’ll be here by tomorrow.”

       “Oh God.” Dipper rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, “He’s going to blame us.”

       “No doubt about it.” Stanley sighed.

       I stayed quiet.  This was my fault.  I should have never came to Gravity Falls.  My lips pulled into a frown as Dipper continued.

       “Did anyone else…”

       “No, that’s it.” Ford sighed.

       I looked down at the floor.  I wanted to cry, it was my fault this kid’s parents were dead.  But there was no use in blaming myself. I knew I had to fix this mess.

       That’s when I decided to go through with Dipper’s plan.

       I looked over at the boy, sending my thoughts his way, ‘We’re going through with your plan.  You’re right, it could work. It’s the only way as of now.’

       Dipper’s brows jumped, ‘Are you sure?’

       ‘Positive.’

       “Did you tell the town’s people about me?” I looked up at the two Stans, the set of twins shaking their heads.

       “We just told them we have a plan.”

       ‘Tell Ford about our plan, I’ll distract Bill.’ I told Dipper, pushing to my feet and shaking my head, “I’m going on a walk.  I need to clear my head.”

       “What about Bill?” Mabel asked.

       “If I see him I’ll beat the ever loving shit out of him.” I snapped, the girl’s eyes widening.

       “(Y/n),” she said shakily, “You’re not ready, he’ll kill you!”

       “Then I’ll have a harsh chat with him.” I shrugged, pushing past Stan and Ford, “I’ll be back in a few.”

       ‘Wait until I give you the word.’ I sent Dipper before heading down the steps, pushing the front door open and closing it behind me.  I closed my eyes, thinking hard only to reopen them at the same field I had first met Bill.

       “Bill!” I yelled, only for someone to clear their throat from behind me.  I spun on my heel, turning to face the demon.

       “107.” he greeted, the man having been in the middle of something as he was no longer wearing his usual suit, but a white dress shirt and a pair of black jeans.  His top hat no longer adorned his head, his blonde hair messy.

       “What up with the new look?” my brows jumped.

       “What?  That suit gets uncomfortable after wearing it for almost three days straight.” the demon snarked, my hands going up in surrender.

       “Just a question, that’s all.” I defended, “I want to know more about Michael.”

       “Why?” Bill questioned suspiciously.

       ‘ Now’ I thought to Dipper before continuing, “I know what kind of person he is, but what are his secrets?  What’s something I could use against him to get him here?”

       “What are you playing at.” Bill frowned, looking deeply into my eyes.

       “I made a deal, Cipher.  I’m just keeping my end of it.” I snapped, the man scoffing.

       “Hardly.  You’ve either ruined every attempted deal I’ve suggested so far or broken most of them.” I glared.

       “Most of that is your fault, you bastard.”

       “Please, call me Bill.”

       “Then call me (y/n) instead of 107.” I glared back, the man’s brows jumping.

       “Fine.  It’s a deal.  You call me Bill and I call you by your name.” He smirked.

       “You really want me to made a deal over something so mundane?” I snapped, the man laughing.

       “If it bothers you that much, then yes.” he pushed his hand towards me, my eyes watching his ungloved hand carefully.  I slowly reached out, grasping his hand and giving it a hard shake before pulling away.

       “Now tell me about my father.” I crossed my arms, watching as he tilted his head towards me in an expecting way.  I rolled my eyes, “Bill. Tell me.”

       “That’s the spirit.” Bill smirked, “Now, (Y/n),” as my name left his lips, I couldn’t help but let my surprise show through.  It wasn’t the fact that he was saying my name that caught me off guard, but the way he said it. He spoke so gently, despite the sarcasm dripping from his words.  

       His brows jumped at my reaction, “We made a deal, kid.  What’d you expect me to call you?”

       I shook my head, “Tell me about Michael.”

       He smirked, “You can use the Northwests against him--”

       “Bill--”

       “--They know information that could have him arrested for life.”

       “Bill.  I asked about his secrets, not who holds them.”

       Bill gave a grin, “Why do you really wanna know?”

       My lips pulled into a frown, “What?”

       “Now, kid, I already told you everything you need to know.” He smirked.

       My brows furrowed as I stepped towards him, “But our deal--”

       “Our deal--” he took a menacing step towards me, though I stood my ground, “--was that I would tell you everything about your father at the time our deal was made.”

       My hands balled into fists as I stared him in the eye, my nails digging into my palms, “Fine.  I'll just ask Pacifica, or Stanford.”

       The demon gave me a grin as he stepped closer, the man looking down at me, our faces inches apart, “Go ahead, love.” He reached up his gloved hand as his expression changed to one of curiosity, “Actually, I want to ask you something, (Y/n).” There it was again, my name in his silky voice reaching my ears.  I couldn't tell if I loathed it, or if I wanted him to say my name again.

       ‘No, get those thoughts out of your head, (y/n)’ I thought to myself.

       “What?” I asked as venomously as I could, though my voice still quivered in nervousness.

       Bill huffed in amusement, but continued nonetheless, “Tell me, what did you ans Pine Tree talk about on your little trip outside the town?”

       My brows furrowed, “I told him about my father, he told me about Gravity Falls, and more importantly, about you.”

       He hummed, “What about me?”

       I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, “About what you did to all those innocent people.”

       “Then remember…” his brows furrowed, “How I can now do a hundred times worse.”

       “Fuck you.” I glared, but with a blink of an eye, he smirked, disappearing in a burst of flames.  

       I frowned, letting out a growl of frustration.  I closed my eyes, a gust of wind passing through me as I reopened them, finding myself at the front door of the Mystery Shack.  

       I let myself in, making my way down the hall and into the living room to find Dipper sitting on the couch, his head in his hands as he thought deeply about something.

       I sat down next to him, the boy opening his eyes and looking over at me before sighing.

       “They agree with our plan.” Dipper spoke, his tone exasperated.

       My lips tugged into a frown, my eyes clashing with his as I spoke, “Then what's wrong?”

       “Mabel's still upset.” He shook his head.

       “I’m sorry… I...I should have understood what Cipher meant.” I clenched and unclenched my fists in frustration, “It's all my fault, I'm so sorry.”

       I felt a hand being placed on my arm, my eyes darting up to meet Dipper's as he spoke, “It's okay, (y/n), we'll figure something out.”

       I sent him a small smile, the boy giving me one in return.  My heart fluttered, causing me to look away, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I cleared my throat.

       “Should we go comfort Mabel?” I asked, Dipper's smile dropping, my heart dropping with it as I wanted nothing but him to smile again.

       “No…” Dipper shook his head, pulling his hand back to his side, “I think she's on the phone with mom and dad.”

       “Oh…” I frowned.  We sat there for a moment, neither of us daring to speak or move as we sat in comfortable silence.

       My attention broke away from the curly haired boy as his twin sister popped her head into the room.  I sent her a smile as she moved to sit down next to me.

       “Hey.” She smiled as she sat down beside me.

       “Hi Mabel.” I held out my hand, the girl taking it as I gave her hand a squeeze, “Everything will be okay, I promise.”

       She squeezed my hand back, a smile forming on her lips as she looked over to Dipper.  I turned my head, sending a smile in his direction and holding out my free hand. He hesitantly took it, giving it a squeeze before looking back up at me, a smile forming on his lips.

       “We'll all be okay.” Mabel spoke, her voice shaking.  She dropped my hand, “Robbie called.”

       Dipper's face dropped, “What'd he say?”

       “He said he's leaving for Gravity Falls tonight, and he wants a full explanation of what happened.” She frowned, “Look, (Y/n), he might be mad for awhile, but don't take it personally.  He hates everyone.”

       I nodded, looking down at Dipper and I's hands intertwined.  His hand was so soft, a few scars littering his knuckles and fingers.  My hand seemed so small in his, but I didn't mind. I found myself not wanting him to let go.

       “I assume we're going to the funeral.” Dipper spoke, his tone soft yet full of sadness.

       “Yeah, he said he wants us to come.  Wendy said she'd come as well.” Mabel sighed, “She'll want an explanation, too.”

       “I'll handle all the explaining.” I spoke, Mabel looking over at me, “It's my fault everyone's in this mess, I should be the one to take the heat for this.”

       “(Y/n)...” Dipper frowned as I pulled my hand from his grasp, pushing to my feet.

       “It's late, we should head to bed.” I spoke, crossing my arms over my chest.  Mabel nodded.

       “Yeah, let's get a good night's rest.  Robbie and Wendy will be here in the morning.” She sighed, “I have the feeling it's going to be a rough day tomorrow.”

       The three of us made our way into the town's bedroom.  I took a quick shower (the water heater was finally fixed) before getting changed into my pajamas and practically passing out the moment my head hit the pillow.

 

       The next morning I woke up to a hand on my shoulder, the owner shaking me awake.  I opened my eyes to see the blurred figure of Dipper, the boy kneeling down beside my mattress.  He was already dressed in a black T-shirt and cargo pants, the boy staring down at me with a look of pity.

       “Robbie's here.” was all he said, the boy pushing to his feet.  I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my forehead. I looked up at the boy as he sent me another smile before exiting the room.  I quickly got changed into some athletic shorts and a baggy grey sweater. I slipped on some shoes before making my way down the stairs, the sound of yelling reaching my ears.

       “It's not his fault, Robbie!” Mabel argued as I approached the ‘Staff Only’ doors.

       “Everything's his fault!” A deeper man's voice spoke, who I assumed was Robbie, “It always has been when it comes to Bill!”

       “Robbie, calm down--” Dipper was cut off as I stepped into the shop.  All focus turned to me as I fidgeted with my hands, clearing my throat.

       “Robbie, this is (Y/n)...” Mabel introduced me, the girl standing behind Robbie and beside Dipper.  I looked over at the man. He had black hair that was slicked back, his icy blue eyes staring me down.  He was wearing a grey zip up hoodie with a white shirt underneath, small gauges in his ears.

       “So you're the new ‘mystery girl' of Gravity Falls.” The man said coolly.

       “In the flesh.” I sighed, “Look, Robbie, nothing is Dipper's fault.  It's my fault.” He glared as I continued, “I brought Bill back by mistake, making it my fault that your parents are dead.  I feel terrible, I'm so sorry.”

       He glared, “You're real fucking lucky, you know?  If it weren't for the fact that we need you to take down this mother fucker, you'd be dead.”

       I frowned, “I'm sorry, I should have been more careful.”

       “Damn right you should have been more careful!” He yelled, causing me to flinch, “You got my parents killed!”

       “It was an accident,” Dipper defended me, “She didn't know who Bill was, or that touching the statue would bring him back.”

       Robbie said nothing, only glaring as the gift shop's door opened, revealing a girl with bright red hair and green eyes, the girl wearing a green tank top and jean shorts.

       I was immediately envious of her beauty, but pushed this thoughts away as I knew now wasn't the time.

       “Robbie, I'm so, so sorry.” she spoke, setting down her bag and jacket as she gave the man a hug.  He said nothing as she pulled away, hugging the two twins tightly before turning to me, “Hey, kid.”

       “Hi.” I gave a small smile.

       “This is (Y/n),” Dipper said, “she's been staying with us for the last few days.”

       “She's apparently the way we're going to take down Bill.” Robbie glared.

       “Well, it's nice to meet you.” she smiled before turning to Robbie, “My dad said you're welcome to stay at our house.”

       “Thanks.” He frowned, sending me one final glare before turning away, “I'm just going to rent a motel room.  I'll see everyone…” he hesitated, “later.”

       “Bye, Robbie.” Wendy smiled as he left.  She then turned to us, “I'll catch up with you guys later, and (Y/n), you better show me some of your cool tricks.”

       My breath caught in my throat, how did she know?

       “I told her.” Mabel sent me a reassuring smile, “She wants to help us.  Robbie doesn't know.”

       I let out a sigh in relief, “Okay, thanks, Wendy.”

       “Of course.” She smiled before elbowing Dipper lightly, “See you later, loser.”

       “Oh,” Dipper sent her a weary smile, “Bye, Wendy.”

       She waved before leaving the shop, my gaze following after her before turning to the twins.  My eyes locked with Dipper's, the boy's brows raising in confusion as I shrugged.


	9. Another A/N

Hello friends! I'm just announcing that the poll I had posted earlier is now closed! Thank you for your votes as it has helped me understand you, dear reader, much better than I have through out the writing of this story! I have made my final decision on who the reader will end up with! However, no matter who you voted for, the dear reader will have many encounters with your votes, and will have multiple love interests through out the story, so please stay tuned!

I will not be releasing who the reader will end up with as to keep the suspense and not ruin the story, but I will have you know that because most of you have picked the answer of a male love interest, Mabel and Pacifica will no longer be love interests in this story. However, I will be posting a Mabel x Reader eventually as soon as this story comes to a close!

Also! Do you have the Amino App? Do you want to talk to me and give me ideas for this story? Or do you just want to chat and get along over Gravity falls? Well, lucky for you, I have the Gravity Falls Amino, and I would love love LoVe for all of you to follow me on there so we can all chat and be friends! Also, anyone who follows me on Amino will get a week early sneak peak of the next chapter before it's published! As soon as I make it to level 8 on Amino, I will create a group public chat room where people can chat, share ideas, art, and more! 

aminoapps.com/c/gravity-falls/page/user/imsanejk/L2Xz_BwYSYfeWVvpBmQQ4jDE4D2eDGnLGeztP

I'm currently working on the next chapter, and as soon as school is out (three days from now) I will finish it up and publish it ASAP!

Love you all!

LIZ


	10. Monster

        A few days passed without anything from Bill;  he didn’t even try to crash the funeral, which while it was a shock he didn’t, I was thankful he had enough decency to leave the arrangement alone.  Robbie despised me with all his heart, which was to be expected, and even told me not to come to the funeral. I complied, staying at the Shack with Soos and helping him run the gift shop as I waited for the Pines family to get home.  

        Two days after the service, I found myself sitting next to the same river that I had revealed my powers to Dipper at, my feet soaking in the freezing water as I hummed.  I turned my head to see the boy lying beside me, his chocolate eyes watching the clouds float by.

        I fell onto my back with a sigh, rolling my head to the side to look at Dipper, “Where’s Mabel today?”

        “With Pacifica.” Dipper shrugged, looking over at me, “I’m kind of glad she’s out, I like the time we spend together.”

        I rose a brow, “Oh really?”

        Dipper rolled his eyes, a smile forming on his lips, “Really.  You know what I mean.”

        I elbowed him lightly as I let out a laugh, “Yeah, I know.  Me, too.”

        We laid there in silence for a moment, the two of us turning to look back at the sky.  I closed my eyes, listening to Dipper’s slow, deep breaths. I’ve never seen him this relaxed.

        “Mabel says she has a date tonight.” I smirked, Dipper letting out a groan.

        “Seriously?” he asked as I rested on my elbow, looking down at him with a smile.

        “Yeah, she wanted me to do her hair, but obviously I have no idea how to do hair or makeup.” Dipper rolled his eyes as I said this.

        “Her last date in Gravity Falls ended up being a bunch of gnomes trying to make her their queen.” he said, a laugh escaping my lips.

        “Seriously?” I grinned, “I’m not ever going to let her get away with that one.”

        “I sure don’t.” Dipper smirked.

        I let out a laugh, shutting my eyes as I tapped my fingers on my stomach to the tune of one of my favorite songs.  

        “I wonder what Bill’s doing.” I muttered, the boy frowning as I continued, “I mean, it’s not normal; I’m usually bugged by him almost every day.  Now, I don’t ever see him.”

        “It is weird.” Dipper frowned, “I mean, he is super confusing and spontaneous.  You never know what he’s up to.”

        “Yeah.” I frowned, looking up at the sky.  I frowned, seeing the cloudy skies on the horizon, “We should head back… Before the storm hits, you know.”

        “Yeah.” Dipper nodded, pushing to his feet and reaching out to help me up.  I took his hand, pulling myself up, our hands lingering together for a moment as we turned to walk.  Dropping his hand, I began to walk.

        In the past few days, Mabel and I had plenty of girl talks, and whenever she would describe her feelings towards a variety of boys… I found myself feeling the same way towards Dipper.  I would never admit the fact to her, of course, but at this point, It was obvious that I had feelings for him. I also hated to admit that Mabel made it clear to me that my feelings for Dipper were returned full-heartedly.

        But in my heart, I knew I couldn’t love anyone for their own safety, nor could anyone love such a monster like me.

        We trekked through the forest, Dipper following close behind as I stepped over logs and rocks.  We chatted and laughed as we made our way towards the Shack, only for my body to seize to function at the sight of it.

        Sitting haphazardly in the parking lot was a cluster of black vans, the same vans from the diner Dipper and I ate at before Bill’s attack on the town.  My heart thudded loudly in my ears as I began to hear voices approaching us. I shut my eyes as I grabbed Dipper’s hand, a gust of wind moving around us as the voices turned to yelling, only for all sound to seize.  

        I reopened my eyes to find myself standing somewhere in the Gravity Falls’ forest, still clutching onto Dipper’s hand.  I let go, running my fingers through my hair as I began to pace.

        “(y/n), it’s okay,” Dipper tried to calm me down.  It didn’t work.

        “Bill!  You motherfucker, get your ass over here!” I barked into the sky, only for a hand to land on my shoulder.

        “Yes, my dear (Y/n)?” the voice of Bill Cipher spoke.  I spun on my heel, my face inches from his as I glared menacingly.

        “You knew they were coming, didn’t you?” I snapped.

        “Of course.” Bill smirked, his breath gracing across my face as he spoke, “But I had no need to tell you.  In fact, if they caught you, perhaps you could kill them all and force your father to come here in their place.”

        “Maybe if you let me know where he was, I could teleport there and teleport him back here with me.” I glowered.

        “I don’t know where he is, how would you expect me to know when I can’t even leave Gravity Falls?” he snapped.

        “Is there any way you can help us?” I finally asked, the man stepping back with a cheshire grin.

        “Oh-ho, (y/n) (l/n) is asking for help?” he smirked.

        “I know.” I deadpanned, “It’s a shocker, really.”

        “Not like you’ve ever asked for help before.” the man rolled his eyes.  I glared as he continued, “No. I will not help you. Not because I hate you, but because I want to see just how far you’re willing to go with your powers.”

        “What the hell does that mean, Cipher?” I glared, the man raising a brow, “Bill.  I mean Bill.”

        “Well, it means that in order for you to get your father here, you need to be willing to take out a few humans.”

        “No.” I glared, “I’m not a monster like you.”

        “Oh,” he smirked, leaning towards me so our faces were once again inches apart, “But dear, you are.”

        “Fuck you.” I hissed, “Fine, I don’t need your help.”

        “Good.” he stood up straight once more, looking down at me, “I wish you luck.” and with a burst of blue fire, the man was gone.

        “What was that about?” Dipper frowned, “Why would you ask him for help?”

        “Because I still don’t know everything about my powers.” I shrugged, “And I didn’t know what he wanted me to do.  Now, let’s go.”

        I grabbed his hand, closing my eyes and reopening them to find the two of us standing in the gift shop of the Mystery Shack.  Two men wearing black suits looked over, immediately recognizing me and pulling out their guns.

        “Dipper, go find Ford.” I smirked as I stepped forward, the boy nodding and running through the ‘Staff Only’ doors.  

        ‘Just think it, and it will happen’ I frowned, holding a hand out in front of me as I watched one of their guns fly into my hand, teleporting behind the man who was now gunless and wrapping my arm around his neck, gun trained on the other man, who was now shaking in fear.

        “Drop it.  Now.” I barked, the man shaking off his fear and training his gun on me.  I smirked, pointing the gun at the man I was holding, aiming for his foot.  I pulled the trigger, the man letting out a scream as he fell to the ground.  I heard a gunshot, quickly teleporting behind the other man and hitting him hard in the head with the butt of the gun.  He fell to the floor with a yell before falling unconscious.

        “She’s in here!” the man with blood pouring from his foot profusely yelled.  I glared, stepping on his foot as he let out a scream.

        “My father, where is he.” I barked, the man glaring through gritted teeth.

        “I’d rather die than tell you.” he snapped, I rolled my eyes as three men bolted through the door.  I smacked the man in the head with the gun, the man growing unconscious as I pointed the gun between the men.  

        “I’ll make a deal with you three.” I began, watching as the men slowly stepped towards me, “You leave this house forever, never coming back, I’ll come with you.”

        “You’re bluffing.” the man in the middle spoke.

        “Call it what you want.” I smirked, “But a deal’s a deal, no?”

        I heard a click from behind me, followed by a soft voice, “Put down the gun.”

        “Grunkle Ford!” I heard Dipper yell.  I grit my teeth.

        “What the fuck, Ford?” I snapped, “I thought we were on the same team.  You kill me, and you lose your only chance of killing Bill.”

        ‘Kill them all, (y/n).’ I heard Bill’s voice ring through my head.

        I sighed, throwing the gun to the floor.  

        Bill was right.

        It was the only chance we had.

        I knew full well Ford was bluffing.  He was on my side, and he was just setting up a false sense of security for the other men.

        “I will tear you limb from limb, Ford.” I muttered angrily.

        “Sure you will.”

        I smirked, hooking my leg around his and yanking it towards me, the man falling on his back with a grunt as I smashed my foot onto his hand.  I heard a snap that made me cringe as he yelled.

        ‘I’ll heal that later, I’m sorry, Ford.’ I sent him my thoughts before snapping, his odd looking gun flying into my hands.  I heard a gunshot as hot pain blossomed through my leg. I screamed, falling to my knees as I held my leg tightly.  I glared.

        “Move and I’ll kill them.” A voice sounded from beside me.  I looked up to see two more men, one holding Dipper around the neck with a gun to his head and another holding Stanley.  I glared.

        ‘Now they’ve done it.’

        I slowly raised a hand, the man’s grip on Dipper tightening as the three other men came towards me.  Before anyone could do anything, I spun my finger in a circular motion, every man’s head spinning to an unnatural angle as they fell to the ground.  The room was silent as I crawled over to Ford, grabbing his wrist and concentrating on it. It’s unnatural angle healed back into a normal state as he sat up.

        “You...You killed them.” Dipper stuttered, “You promised you wouldn’t.”

        “It was the only way.” I shook my head, pushing to my feet only to yell out in pain and fall back to the ground once more.  

        “No!  You--”

        “No, Dipper, she’s right.” Ford sighed, pushing to his feet, “If she hadn’t killed them, then her father would have just sent more men.  Once they find out that all the men are dead, I’m sure everyone else will quit, leaving him to be the only one able to fetch (y/n).”

        “Exactly.” I sighed, looking down at my thigh and concentrating on the wound.  It slowly began to heal, pushing out the bullet and leaving the skin good as new, the bullet clattering to the wooden floor.

        “What the hell…?” I heard an unfamiliar voice.  All of us turned to the man who I had knocked unconscious, his gun still in hand.  I snapped my fingers, the gun flying from his hands as he sat up in shock. I pushed to my feet, menacingly stepping towards him.  I kneeled to his height as I held his chin in my fingers.

        “Go back to my father.  Tell him how I’ve killed all of his men but one.  Tell him that if he doesn’t come to Gravity Falls by the end of this summer, I will find him and kill him myself.” I whispered, the man nodding in fear as he pushed to his feet, rushing out of the shack.

        “Well done.” I heard a voice speak.  I looked over to see Bill Cipher kneeling beside me.

        “Fuck you.” I growled as I pushed to my feet.  The man snapped his fingers and all the bodies littering the floor disappeared in a flash of blue flame.  I heard a jingle as the gift shop door opened, revealing a very dressed-up Mabel as well as a casually dressed Pacifica.  

        Pacifica’s eyes widened at the sight of Bill, the man smirking and sending her a wink before turning to me once more.

        “(y/n), love your friends and all, but may we speak in private?” he asked, pushing to his feet as I walked towards the two girls.

        “No.” I snapped as I pulled the two into a hug, whispering into their ears, “Dipper or I will explain.”

        “Yes.” Bill retorted.

        “Fuck you.” I snapped back.

        “Dear (y/n) has had a tongue recently.” Bill rose a brow.

        “And you’ve been annoying as ever.”

        “I’m the annoying one?” Bill scoffed.

        “Ask literally anyone and they’ll say yes.” I snapped, taking a menacing step towards him, “You were the one who told my father of my location, weren’t you?”

        “Surprisingly, no.” Bill smirked, “You might want to reevaluate who you consider your friends.”

        “Robbie.” Ford spoke, everyone turning to look at him, “At the funeral, he kept asking questions about you.  In fact, he goes to college in the same town your father’s lab is in.”

        “So you’re saying Robbie knew about me all along?” I frowned, “No, that doesn’t make any sense.  How would he know what number to call.”

        Then it hit me.

        Ford.

        Ford is the only man in Gravity Falls who has my father’s number.

        I sent the man a hard glare, only to turn to Bill, “Fine.  Let’s go.”

        “What?” Dipper exclaimed, “You can’t actually trust him!”

        “Right now, Dipper, I trust him more than I would like to admit.” I sent one last glare at Ford, the man sending me a blank stare.  

        I took the demon’s outstretched hand, closing my eyes and reopening them to find myself standing in the same victorian office I had been in once before.  

        “Ford told him, didn’t he?” I muttered, Bill humming.

        “I don’t know.” he admitted.

        “Bill Cipher doesn’t know something?” I smirked, the man rolling his eyes.

        “Yup.”

        “You’re so confusing sometimes, you know everything yet nothing all at once.”

        “That’s the point, kiddo.” he clicked his tongue, paused, and then gave a menacing smirk, “You know, kid, that I know full well this isn’t your first time killing.”

        My previous anger for Stanford immediately simmered, replaced by a twisting feeling in my gut, “I had to, they were going to kill me, or worse…”

        “I know.” Bill frowned, “And so were these people, and we both know full well that this won’t be your last time having to end a life.”

        I paused, looking him dead in the eyes as I spoke, “How do I make someone go brain dead, like you did to my real parents.  I can avoid killing people that way--”

        “You have to make a deal with them in order to take their soul.” Bill’s brows jumped, “And all these men have most likely been told to not take any deals from you.”

        “Fuck!” I growled angrily, clenching and unclenching my fists in frustration as I paced around the desk.

        “(Y/n), listen to me.” Bill was suddenly standing before me, his hand clenched hard on my shoulder to seize my pacing, “I know you hate the idea, and I do too, but we’re practically on the same level--”

        “Fuck you.” I spat as he continued.

        “You have to kill to survive, and so do I.” he rose a brow, “Every person you kill, the more powerful you become, and the more powerful you become, the easier it will be to take down your father.”

        I sent him a ruthless glare, “Why are you being so nice?”

        “I’ll be honest.” Bill released my shoulder as he began to pace around me like an animal stalking its prey, “You’re basically the only chance I have at getting your father into Gravity Falls.  Not only this, but you’re literally the only other being remotely close to being a Dream Demon, meaning you are really the only thing that can actually kill me.”

        “So you’re being nice to me for your own safety.” I stared the man down as he stopped before me.

        “Yup.” he gave a menacing grin, only to cross his arms, “I’ll make another deal.”

        “Really?” I asked in a dead tone, the man rolling his eyes.

        “I won’t harm you in any way as long as you promise not to harm me.  If you fail to make this deal, I will kill you the moment your father is in Gravity Falls, and all our previous deals about not harming, tricking, or killing anyone, including you, will be terminated.” he smirked as he held out his hand, “Do we have a deal?”

        I glared, my eyes boring into his skull as I internally screamed.  I had to make this deal, for the safety of everyone else, and for my own safety.  But was that worth keeping Bill alive?

        I had to.

        For the Pines family.

        I took his hand, giving it a hard shake as his smirk turned to a grin.

        “Alright!” Bill clapped his hands together, “You are free to leave, that was all I needed.”

        I glared, only for my vision to go hazy, and the world around me to go dark.

        I found myself standing in the twin’s bedroom, my head spinning only for a voice to break me out of my daze.

        “You’re back.” Dipper’s voice was cold, and as I turned to look at him, I only found his back turned to me as he wrote something down in his little notebook.

        “Yeah.” I muttered, “Where’s Mabel?”

        “On her date.” Dipper shrugged, my brows furrowing.

        “Dipper, what’s wrong?” I asked as I slowly approached him, the boy slamming his book shut and spinning to look at me.

        “Are you fucking kidding me, (Y/n)?  I just witnessed death! And not just any death, but you, probably my best friend, killing six men at one time!” he barked, my heart tightening as I began to shake, my face turning hot.

        “Oh, I’m sorry!” I yelled back, “Maybe I’ll just let them shoot you next time, how about that?  Oh! And maybe I’ll just let them kidnap me again, too, and give me even more trauma to keep me up at night, to make me cry my eyes out every goddamn day!”

        Dipper glared, “You promised you wouldn’t kill them.”

        This made my blood boil as I clenched my fists, “You wanna know something, Dipper?  You may be upset, but have you thought about how I feel about all this?  How I feel about being a fucking monster, having to kill to survive?”

        Dipper’s eyes narrowed, “No one has to kill!”

        “Bull shit, Dipper!” I barked.

        Dipper continued to yell, “Those men were just doing their job!  You didn’t have to kill them!”

        “And let them kill you first?  No fucking way in hell!” I snapped.

        “They were bluffing!”

        “You know just as well as I do that they were not bluffing.”

        “Bull shit!  If they weren’t bluffing, they would have killed us on spot!”

        “They were going to kill you anyways, whether they got me in custody or not!”

        “Maybe we should have let them take you!  You’re a fucking monster!” Dipper’s face dropped as the words left his lips, opening his mouth to say something else only to be silenced by my hand flying across his face, the boy stumbling back as he held his cheek.

        “Don’t you ever say that again, you bastard.” I hissed, Dipper staring at me in shock as I stepped away from him, shutting my eyes.

        “(Y/n), wait--” it was too late, I reopened my eyes to find myself at the riverside that I had been at earlier that day with Dipper.

        I sat down at the riverside, letting my legs dangle over the side of the rock over the clear water.  I looked down at my hand, the palm bright red from when I had slapped Dipper. I felt bad. I knew he was just upset, but he still had no right to say such things.

        I balled my hand into a fist, slamming it down on the rock I was seated on in frustration, a loud ‘crack’ ringing out into the forest as I looked down.  The rock had split open, my brows furrowing as I looked down. It was hollow. I stepped into the water, moving to peer inside the hollow ‘rock’ only to find it was simply a metal shell.  Inside sat a book, it’s dusty white leather tearing at the seems, and a bright red set of wings sewn onto the cover.

        Wings.

        That was Bill’s nickname for my father.       

        I held the book in my fingertips; the book was definitely well used, and as I skimmed through it, my heart dropped.  It was my father’s handwriting.

        I skimmed through the pages, my heart pounding with every picture and drawing in the book.  It was almost all about Bill and his powers, and towards the end, it was about me gaining my powers through a deal my father had made with Bill.  I frowned, looking closely at the last page.

        ‘I have to leave.  He’s going to kill me.  He’s after us all. Bill Cipher is not to be trusted, DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS’

        The page ends there, my lips pursing as I flipped through the empty pages.

        I tucked the book under my arm, shutting my eyes and reopening them to find myself in the gift shop of the shack.  I wandered around, looking for somewhere to hide the notebook as I heard steps coming down the stairs. I panicked as I heard the growing sound of Dipper’s voice coming towards me, my eyes scanning for somewhere to hide the book.  

        The I thought for a moment, holding the book in my hand only for it to burst in flame, disappearing from my hands.  Just as the fire dissipated, Dipper entered the room, along his side was Ford, who was still looking down at the circuit board he was fiddling with in his hands with a screwdriver.  I sent a glare towards Dipper, ignoring his words to wait as I simply closed my eyes, reopening them to find myself beside Greasy’s diner.

        I sighed, stepping inside and moving towards the bar.  I could feel everyone’s eyes boring into my back as I stopped, turning to find everyone staring at me, only for my eyes to land on a familiar face.

        “Pacifica!” I smiled as I rushed to her side, everyone going back to eating, though they would send the occasional glare.

        Pacifica was eating by herself, and as I slid into the booth beside her, she looked up from her food, a smile on her face.

        “Hey, (y/n).” She smiled.  I smiled back.

        “I have a favor to ask.” my hands in my lap began to twist nervously.

        “What is it?” she rose a brow as she put another forkful of pancakes in her mouth.

        “Well…” I frowned, looking at my hands, “Can I spend the night at your place?”

        Pacifica’s eyes widened in shock, “Uhm, sure, but my parents aren’t home.  They left for a business trip.”

        “Okay, that’s fine.” I smiled.

        “Oh, and Mabel’s spending the night, too.” Pacifica added, looking down at her food, “What’s wrong?”

        “Well…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair, “Dipper and I got into a fight.  He called me a monster, and I don’t think I can forgive him quite yet. And I’m afraid he’ll try to start a conversation and I’ll snap at him again.  Especially where it will just be the two of us.”

        “Oh!” Pacifica set down her fork and sent me an apologetic smile, “Of course you can stay.  You can stay as long as you like. Until my parents come home, of course.”

        “When will they be home?” I frowned.

        “I’m not sure, I’d give them maybe two weeks?” the blonde suggested, my lips forming a smile.

        “Thanks, Pacifica, it means a lot.” I smiled, the girl pulling her wallet from her purse and paying for her meal by placing thirteen dollars on the table.

        “Of course.” she smiled, “Let’s go.”

        “Okay.” I nodded, looking up as the door jingled open, Mabel stepping inside, her hand intertwined with a very tall boy’s.  He had dark brown hair and caramel skin, his eyes a dark brown and his shaggy hair chopped short.

        As the two approached us, the boy stared directly at me, his eyes locked with my own as he simply sent me a smirk.  My brows furrowed in confusion as he looked over at Mabel, stopping in his tracks and saying something to her. He kissed her cheek and unlinked their hands, walking towards the exit.  

        I looked over at Pacifica, who was watching him leave with the same level of confusion and worry as me.  She then turned to Mabel with a smile.

        “So… How’d it go?” the blonde asked with a grin, the girl grinning back as she gave a short squeal.

        “Absolutely magical!” She hopped up and down, “He was so sweet!”

        “That’s wonderful, Mabel!” I smiled, “We were just about to leave, maybe you could tell us more about him on the walk back to Pacifica’s house?”

        “Oh, are we having another girl’s night?” Mabel smiled, Pacifica locking eyes with me before nodding.

        “I guess you could call it that.”

        “Then let’s go!” Mabel grinned as Pacifica and I pushed to our feet, heading towards the door.

        We walked down the street for a while, only for Pacifica to gasp as we stopped by a shop with a ‘closing!  Everything 70% off or more!’ sign out front.

        “I used to love this shop!” Pacifica gasped.  I wasn’t surprised; everything looked extremely expensive compared to what the rest of the shops in Gravity Falls sold.

        “Do you want to take a look?” I smiled, both Mabel and Pacifica grinning as they stepped inside the shop.

        I followed in tow, Mabel and Pacifica splitting in different directions.

        I sighed, wandering around the racks of fancy looking clothing as I heard someone clear their throat from behind.

        I turned, locking eyes with a pair of stunning blue ones.  

        I froze as the boy began to speak, “Hey, are you finding everything okay?”

        I smiled, “Oh yeah, just looking around.” He smiled back as he crossed his arms.

        “I’m glad.  I’m Chase, by the way.” He held out a hand, my brows jumping as I took it.

        “(Y/n).  Pleasure to meet you.” I looked him over.  He was wearing the shop’s uniform, which consisted of dress pants and a grey vest over a purple collared shirt.  His curly blonde hair pointed in every direction and his lightly tanned arms were covered with small sleeves of tattoos poking from under the wrists of his shirt.  

        My eyes widened as I realized I was checking him out, my eyes jumping to his as he chuckled, “The pleasure’s all mine.” he smiled, “What brings you here?”

        “Oh,” I glanced over at Pacifica, “Rich friends.”

        “I know the feeling.” He chuckled, “Are you new to Gravity Falls?”

        I pulled my hand to my side, “You could say that, yeah.”

        “Well, it’s wonderful to have someone as beautiful as you living in our sleepy town.” he gave a lopsided grin, and I could feel my face burning.

        “Are… are you flirting with me?” I stuttered, the boy letting out a soft laugh.

        “You could say that, yes.” he smiled.

        I gave a small smile of my own as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

        ‘Just a little bit of fun won’t hurt’ I thought to myself with a smile.

        “Well, I guess I’m lucky then.” I smiled, the boy’s smile growing.

        “I could say the same thing.” he smirked, looking up at the ceiling with his shining blue eyes as he reached into his pocket, looking back down at his hand as he pulled a receipt from his pocket.  He pulled a pen from his breast pocket, writing something down on the blank side before folding it, handing the thin piece of paper to me.

        “I have to go, but we should hang out sometime.” he smiled, my shaky hands taking the paper into my grasp.

        “Of course.” I smiled as he stepped away, walking back over towards the checkout area, where a lady was waiting impatiently to pay for her new clothes.  

        “Oh… My god!” I heard Mabel’s voice excitedly whisper from beside me, “He was so cute!  And he gave you his phone number!”

        “Shut up, Mable.” I waved her off with a smile, tucking the paper away in my pocket.

        “You know…” She smirked, “You have to be at least eighteen to get a tattoo…”

        “Mabel…” I hushed her, “He’s older, so what?”

        “Older, cute, probably has a car… We could go on double dates!”

        I rolled my eyes, “Lets go.”

        She laughed as we walked towards the door, Pacifica setting down the pair of shoes she was looking at and following in tow.

        “See you around, (Y/n).” The boy called as we opened the door.

        “I’ll call you.” I smiled as Mabel rolled her eyes, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the shop.  

        “What about Dipper?” Mabel frowned as we walked down the street.

        “What about him?” I frowned.

        “I thought you--”

        I cut her off, “Not anymore.  Not after today.”

        Her eyes widened, “What happened?”

        “He called her a monster.” Pacifica answered for me.  

        I nodded, “He said that ‘Maybe we should have let them take you, you’re a fucking monster.’”

        “You know he didn’t mean that, (y/n)” Mabel defended, my brows jumping.

        “Still stung.” I snapped, “Besides, you don’t say that to someone.”

        Mable sighed, nodding, “No, you don’t.”

        We walked in silence for a bit, the three of us walking side by side as we began to see houses fewer and further between.  Finally, we made it to a large Cabin, big enough to be a ski lodge.

        “We’re home.” Pacifica sighed, pushing open the doors to show a beautifully designed home.

        “It’s lovely.” I smiled.

        “Not as nice as our old place, but better than nothing.” She frowned, the three of us stepping inside as she closed the door behind us, “There are three guest bedrooms, so (y/n), you can take any one you like.”

        “What do you mean?” Mabel frowned.

        “I’m staying until things between Dipper and I aren’t awkward.” I shrugged.

        “Well things won’t get better if you don’t talk to each other!” the brunette exclaimed as I frowned.

        “I’ll still talk to him.  Just spending every waking moment with him from the moment I wake up to the minute I fall asleep is kind of too much.” I frowned.

        Mabel sighed, “Do you want me to talk to him?”

        “Do whatever you want.” I shrugged as I kicked off my shoes and set them in the small shoe rack beside the door.

        “You know what?” Mabel huffed, her eyes full of determination, “I’m going back to the shack right now to talk to Dipper!”

        “Mabel--” the girl cut me off.

        “No, this is ridiculous!” she exclaimed, “You two are like besties!  I don’t want to see you two torn apart by some stupid little fight!”

        I let out a sigh as the girl huffed, knowing full well there was no changing Mabel’s mind, “Fine, go ahead.”

        The girl said nothing as she rushed out the door, slamming it behind her.  Pacifica and I locked eyes as she sighed, kicking off her own shoes and putting them on the rack.

        “C’mon, I’ll show you your options.” she waved for me to follow her as she walked up the grand stairs.  I quickly followed as we rushed up the stairs, stopping at the first door down the hall.

        “Here’s the smaller room.  Usually our maid sleeps in here, but I can have her move.” my brows jumped in surprise as she said this.

        “You have a maid?” I asked in shock, the girl nodding nonchalantly.

        “Yup.” she nodded, continuing down the hall.  She stopped a little ways further, opening the next door to reveal a room with a large bed and some windows, pictures littering the room and a little fireplace in the corner, “This place used to be a lodge, so sorry that all the rooms look similar.”

        “It’s amazing.” I smiled, “This room is fine.”

        “Are you sure?” Pacifica asked, only for me to nod in response.

        I closed my eyes, thinking for a moment only to hear a loud ‘fwoosh’ and to reopen them to see blue flame dying down, my backpack and some of the clothes Mabel and Pacifica had gotten me a while ago appearing on the bed.

        “Blue flame?” Pacifica asked in surprise.

        “Perks of being part Dream Demon.” I muttered as I stepped into the room.

        “The bathroom is next to the closet right there,” Pacifica pointed out an open door leading to a tiled room with wooden walls.  

        “Do you mind if I take a shower?” I questioned, the sticky feeling of disgust from killing filling me up as the mention of a bathroom was brought up.

        “Go ahead.” Pacifica nodded, “There’s no shower, but there’s a bath.  By the time that you’re done, Mabel should be back.”

        “Okay.” I smiled, the girl turning down the hall.

        “I’ll be in the room right down the hall, I’ll leave the door open for you.” she spoke before walking down the empty hall.  I shut the door behind me, sighing in relief as I walked towards the bathroom. The bathtub was huge; it was more like a hot tub than a bath.  I turned on the faucet, holding my hand under the running water and shivering at the ice cold sensation.

        My mind was driven back to the tank; the sickly feeling of ice cold liquid all over my body, the struggle to breath.  I wanted to scream and cry, but I was paralyzed in fear.

        Then, burning hot pain shot through my hand as I realized how hot the water had gotten, shaking me from my daze as I turned the temperature down to the perfect temperature, putting the plug in the drain before standing up, pulling my shirt over my head.  I then reached into my back pocket, pulling the receipt Chase had given me with his number and placing it on the counter surrounding the sink.

        “So, Pinetree’s being a brat, per-usual.” I jumped at the voice of Bill, immediately covering my bra with the shirt in my hands as I spun around.

        “Ever heard of privacy, Bill?” I snapped quietly, “What are you doing here?”

        “Well, after seeing your little fiasco with that brat, I decided to see how you were doing.” he smirked, “I came just in time, it seems.”

        “Ha, ha.” I laughed sarcastically, glaring, “How thoughtful of you to check on me.”

        “Of course.” Bill smirked.

        “What are you actually here for?” I frowned, tightening my grip on my shirt.

        “I’ll be honest.” Bill shrugged, stepping towards me, “I’m here to make another deal.”

        “And what might that be?” I asked, stepping away.

        “How about this,” Bill began, putting his hands in the pockets of his dress pants.  It was then that I realized that he was wearing a casual yellow button down shirt, my brows jumping at the little bit of black ink peeking from under his short sleeve shirt, “You don’t go back to living in the Mystery Shack, and I can teach you how to enter the mindscape and you can instead live there.”

        I frowned, my brows furrowing in confusion, “Why exactly?”

        “It’s safer for you, given you won’t be found at night by your father’s men,” He trailed off, “And I don’t have to worry about watching over the shack while you all sleep to make sure no one attacks at night.”

        My eyes widened in shock, my grip loosening, “You… actually watch over us?”

        “Correction:” he crossed his arms, “I’m watching to make sure you don’t get yourself killed or taken.”

        I scoffed, “What, you don’t want your precious plan to get ruined?”

        He rolled his eyes, “That, and other reasons.”

        “Which are?” I pressed, my brows jumping.

        “Other ridiculous deals I’ve made in the past.” He stepped forward, “It’ll take a lot more than interrogation to get any information from me.”

        I nervously stepped back.

        I opened my mouth to speak, only for my foot to catch a patch of water on the floor, my feet flying from underneath me.

        I panicked as I reached out to grab anything to stop my fall, but clearly whatever I grabbed wasn’t stable enough as I continued to plummet into the bathtub, pulling whatever it was in my hands in with me.

        I let go of everything in my hands, wiping the water from my eyes as I opened them.

        I locked eyes with a pale blue one inches from my own.

        I felt my breath catch in my throat

        I felt my breath catch in my throat as my heart began to pound.

        In my panic I quickly pulled my legs from around the demon into the bathtub, which ultimately was a bad decision as it simply pulled Bill the rest of the way into the tub, the man now completely on top of me.

        I sighed, glaring at the man as he simply glared back.

        "Is this a human thing?" Bill frowned, "to pull your friends into the bathtub with you?"

        "No it's--" my words came to a stop as it processed in my mind what he had said, "Friend?"

        Bill's brows jumped as he said nothing.  Then his uncovered eye traveled from my eye to my body. The man finally realizing the intimate position we were in.

        "So…" the man laughed nervously, "You do this with every guy or…"

        I scoffed, splashing the man with the soapy water, "Shut up." The water went right into the man's eye, the demon yelping and sitting up, wiping at his eye furiously.

        I began to laugh as he reopened it, glaring down at me.  He then swiped his hand at the water, splashing me in the face.  Luckily, I closed my eyes just in time for the water to come hurling at my face.

        I wiped the water from my eyes, glaring at him playfully, "Oh, it's on, blondie."

        "Oh, is it?" Bill smirked, swiping more water in my direction.  I blocked it with my arms, I immediately splashed him back. This went on for a while and eventually evolved into throwing bubbles that the soap had made at one another.

        Finally, I put my hands up in surrender, "Okay!  Okay! I give up, you win!"

Bill smirked triumphantly, running a hand through his soaked blond hair, "Obviously I won."

        "Don't get too cocky," I snickered, pulling my legs against my chest as I wrapped my arms around them.

        Bill smirked, “Well?”

        I cocked my brow in confusion, “Well?”

        “My deal?” Bill continued.  

        “Oh,” I looked down at my knees, “there’s no… no catch?”

        Bill shook his head, “No.”

        I thought for a moment, looking the man in the eyes before sighing, looking away.  I nodded, holding out a hand towards him, “Yeah, it’s a deal.”

        Bill took his hand in mine, shaking it softly before letting go, “Well, as for winning…”

        “Yes?” I asked, my brows jumping.

        “Winner’s get a prize, don’t they?” he asked.

        I rolled my eyes as I splashed the demon with more water, “Get out.”

        “Okay, I’ll get out.” Bill nodded, pushing to his feet, water dripping from his soaked clothes.  The man snapped, and with a burst of blue flame, he was wearing clean, dry clothes.

        I pushed to my feet, stepping out of the water and doing the same, my soaked clothes reappearing as a set of dry pajama pants and a tank top.  I then looked over at Bill, who was hovering over the wet floor casually as he floated around the room, inspecting the bathroom with curiosity.

        “Ah, the Gravity Falls’ Lodge and Hotel.” Bill hummed, “I remember when this place was up and running.”

        “Why’d it shut down?” I frowned, picking up some towels from the rack beside the sink and setting them on the floor, mopping up the water.

        “Why do you think?” Bill rose a brow, “No one comes to our sleepy little town.”

        “Oh,” I frowned, picking up the towel and moving to place it in the dirty clothes hamper only for Bill to sigh.  I looked up at the man in confusion only for the floor to burst into flames, revealing a clean, dry floor once the fire subsided.  

        “Use your brain, kid.” Bill smirked, my eyes narrowing, “I mean, (Y/n).”

        I rolled my eyes, looking over at the covered window.  I stepped towards it, pushing it aside and looking out into what used to be the parking lot of the Lodge.  

        My eyes landed on Dipper’s car pulling into one of the parking spots, Mabel practically jumping out of the car with anticipation.  I sighed, walking past Bill and opening the bathroom door, swiftly walking towards the bedroom door.

        “Where are we going?” Bill asked, floating behind me casually.

        I didn’t answer as I crossed the hall and knocked on Pacifica’s door, turning to Bill and motioning for him to get out.

        Bill nodded, the man going up in flames before disappearing entirely.  The door opened just as the last flame subsided, Pacifica’s eyebrows jumping.

        “You took your sweet time.” Pacifica crossed her arms, my shoulders shrugging up and down.

        “I haven’t taken a bath in a long time.” I smiled before continuing, “I think I’m going to go--Dipper’s here and I really don’t want to talk to him--”

        “You’re staying.” the blonde demanded stubbornly, reaching out to drag me into her room.  I pulled away sharply, letting out a nervous laugh.

        “Too late, I’m leaving.” I rushed as I heard footsteps rushing up the stairs, “Thank you for letting me use the bathroom, I’ll see you again soon.”

        “(Y/n)--” Pacifica was cut off by the approaching voice of Mabel Pines.

        “(Y/n)!  You have a visitor!” she sang, and just as my eyes locked with the soft chocolate eyes of Dipper Pines, my hand jumped into the air, a loud ‘snap’ ringing through the hall, followed by the loud rushing of blue flame surrounding me, my eyes burning at the bright light emitted from the fire.

The fire died down, revealing a vast forest before my eyes, the soft summer sun lighting up the leaves and making it look as though the forest was giving off a soft green glow.  

        “You made it, Kid!” Bill’s voice rang out from behind me, an arm wrapping around my shoulder, “Welcome to the mindscape!”

        “So… This is my mindscape?” I questioned, looking over at the tall man.

        “Well, not exactly,” Bill shrugged, “Because we’re Dream Demons, you and I, we don’t really have our own Mindscape.”

        “So where are we?” I frowned, moving away from the man as his arm fell to his side.

        “We’re in Gravity Falls, Oregon, but in a different dimension.” Bill smirked, “So basically, we’re practically ghosts; we can’t be seen or heard, but we can watch and no one can find us!”

        “So… now what?” I looked around the brilliant forest, “Do we just sit here?”

        “Well, we can spy on people,” Bill held up his gloved hand, counting on his fingers as he continued, “We can wander around-- that’s pretty much all I’ve got as for things that will affect the real world.  As for things we can do ourselves, we can pretty much call anything we want into existence!”

        “So, if I wanted to, I could make myself a mansion in the middle of the forest and no one in the real world can see it?” I smirked, the man stepping back, nodding with a mischievous smirk.

        I smirked back, facing the forest and closing my eyes, thinking hard.  I felt a tap on my shoulder, my eyes opening to see Bill looking up at the tall trees with a smirk.

        “Welcome to your part-time home.” Bill snickered as I looked over at the beautiful treehouse stretching across several trees.  I gave a happy squeal, clapping my hands before turning to Bill, my face dropping as I realized there had to be a catch.

        “Seriously, what’s the catch?” I frowned, the man shaking his head with a smile.

        “No catch.  Other than you not being killed in your sleep by your father’s men.” Bill shrugged, crossing his arms, “Surprisingly, I actually need you alive.  That’s the only catch.”

        I smiled, turning back to the treehouse with a smile, “Well, I’m going to bed in my super comfy bed.  Goodnight.” Without turning to Bill, I rushed up the stairs into the treehouse, walking past the dining room and down the hall to the next tree, where my bedroom was.  In the room sat a big bed with silk covers, my smile growing ear to ear as I jumped onto it, pulling the sheets over me and reaching my hand out of the covers, snapping.  All the lights went out, and I began to slip into a quiet slumber.

 

A/N: Kind of a filler, I know, but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless!  Sorry for the wait!


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